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Health & Fitness

Election Reform

An Update on recently passed election reform!

With the 2012 General Election still fresh in our minds and the issues Florida faced with national headlines over the process, election reform was a prime issue of the recent legislative session  that just finished, I’m pleased to report that the Legislature passed a very “pro-voter” election bill, which improves the process for the most important stakeholder, the voter!  Why is Florida under such intense scrutiny?  It’s rather simple as while Florida is the 4th most populous state (behind California, Texas and New York), we are the first true swing state with 29 electoral votes and we always have very close results!

The election reform bill (HB 7013) is headed to the Governor’s desk for his signature.  The new bill limits the length of amendments put on the ballot by the legislature, greatly expands early voting locations and provides flexibility in the duration of days and hours!  I’m most proud of the historic provision that for the first time will allow voters who forget to sign their absentee ballot certificate the opportunity to complete an affidavit and have the ballot tabulated.   Under current law, the ballot is never tabulated and we had nearly 110 voters who this affected in the last election!  Also, we will now (at the voter’s request) be able to “email” their sample ballot in lieu of sending via regular mail.  This is harnessing technology and will save taxpayer money; truly a win-win!  Finally, voters who move into Pasco and have not updated their address will no longer be required to complete a provisional ballot! 

A hearty thanks to the Pasco County Legislative Delegation for their support of this good public policy! 

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