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Accessible VBM Pilot Program

Published on 9/3/2020
Accessible VBM Pilot Program:
  • Open to Orange County voters who are visually/print impaired.
  • Voters will receive an electronic ballot to be completed/printed AND paper vote-by-mail ballot which will act as backup.
  • Voters who have already requested a Vote-by-Mail ballot must still submit a request to participate in the pilot program. 
  • Included Certificate Envelope must be signed and sealed with enclosed ballot and physically returned to Supervisor of Elections Office or secure drop box at an early voting location.

Download application: VBM Pilot Program/Word Version  or

Download VBM Pilot Program/PDF version

Dear Community Partners,

 

As part of the Settlement Agreement between the Florida Council of the Blind, Inc. and the 67 Florida Supervisors of Elections, 5 counties were designated as “Pilot Counties” for the 2020 General Election, on Tuesday, November 3rd.  The 5 counties are Miami-Dade, Nassau, Orange, Pinellas, and Volusia Counties. We each agreed to provide an “Accessible Vote-by-Mail System” utilizing Democracy Live’s OmniBallot delivery system.

 

The following information only applies to Orange County voters. Voters that live in the other 4 counties will need to contact their Supervisor of Elections Office for details on how to sign up to receive an electronic ballot in their residential county.  All 5 of the Supervisors of Elections are working closely with each other on this project and sharing our materials.

 

Attached is the Accessible Vote-by-Mail Pilot Project Electronic Ballot Request Form. It’s a PDF fillable form, that Orange County voters can email back to us.

 

If the voter already has a Vote-by-Mail request for the November 2020 General Election, they will still need to submit a request to participate in the pilot program. Once we receive their request form, their voter record will be updated to reflect their electronic ballot request.

 

Voters participating in the pilot program will still receive a paper Vote-by-Mail packet. The paper ballot sent with this Vote-by-Mail packet, will serve as a back-up to their electronic ballot, if the voter should have an issue in printing their electronic ballot for return.  The mailed Vote-by-Mail packet also includes  a postage paid Certificate Envelope, that can be used to return their ballot, should they experience an issue with printing their envelope from the website. Either way, the voter is required to sign the certificate envelope, enclose their ballot, and return to the Supervisor of Elections Office.

 

The voter CANNOT electronically return their ballot to the Elections Office, under Florida State Law. The voter can have somebody of their choosing return their Vote-by-Mail Ballot to the Elections Office, or drop off at a Secure Drop Box at any Early Voting Site.

 

We are excited to participate in this pilot project! Please contact Marisa Crispell at marisa.crispell@ocfelections.com or at 407-254-6595 with any questions regarding this program.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Cowles

Supervisor of Elections

Orange County, FL

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