Key Democratic officials in Florida’s Pinellas County are publicly condemning the decision made by the local supervisor of elections to hold voter registration drives at nine local Chick-fil-A restaurants on National Voter Registration Day this past Tuesday.

As leader of the pro-LGBT equality organization known as the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats, Susan McGrath is emphatic that she fully supports efforts to get out the vote – as long as such drives do not take place at Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurants. The popular franchise has become as popular for its pro-family stance – supporting traditional marriage over same-sex “marriage” – as it is for its nationally acclaimed chicken sandwiches.

The restaurant chain, which has been recognized for decades for its biblical commitment to honor the Sabbath by closing on Sundays, has come under fire in recent years over Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s numerous statements expressing his personal opposition to same-sex marriage, which has triggered many pro-LGBT groups to boycott and slander the Christian-owned fast-food giant.

Aversion to pro-family establishments

McGrath, who also serves as the head the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee, expressed to Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark that her decision to have voter registration drives at Chick-fil-A franchises was inappropriate in her eyes – and in the eyes of the many in the LGBT community.

“As an elected official, you have a duty to be evenhanded and fair,” McGrath wrote to Clark, according to the Tampa Bay Times and Creative Loafing. “Surely, you and your office staff do understand that using Chick-Fil-A as the base for voter registration activities is not only inherently unfair, but overtly partisan, as well. This company has a strong and well-understood history of anti-LGBT activism and is publicly associated with Republican Party values.”

Not stopping there, the pro-LGBT activist insisted that Clark’s decision was just as bad as a Democratic supervisor electing to place a voter registration event at a Planned Parenthood. McGrath went on to insist that Clark might as well have planned the drives to take place at Pinellas County’s Republican Party headquarters.

Conceding that many Democrats and members of the LGBT community regularly dine at Chick-fil-As across the country, McGrath still drove her argument forward by insinuating that Republicans were likely incited to hold voter registration drives in locations Democrats tend to avoid – in response to the recent surge of registered Democratic voters in Pinellas County.

“While some Democrats may occasionally dine at Chick-fil-A – and perhaps even members of the LGBT community – the coordination of Pinellas voter registration activities with this right-leaning business very clearly conveys that your office is targeting Republican-leaning voters,” McGrath wrote in her letter, according to Fox News.

She concluded her diatribe against Clark by strongly urging her office to rethink its decision in the future to hold voter registration drives at Chick-fil-A restaurants in the area.

Feeding the hunger to vote

Even though Clark’s spokesman did not address the allegations brought up by McGrath, he did stress that as one of America’s favorite fast-food chains, Chick-fil-A gets a lot of customers – which also means a lot of potential voters. The spokesman also noted that Clark’s office will hold some 350 voter registration drive events at hundreds of locations this year.

Chick-fil-A is not the only eatery that has been utilized to draw more Americans to the ballot box for the upcoming presidential election next month. Many food establishments big and small, including a fleet of taco trucks in Houston, Texas, are now doubling as voter registration centers to make it more convenient for Americans to weigh in on November 8.

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Copyright American Family News. Reprinted with permission.

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