Hurricane season causes Florida election officials to make changes
TAMPA – Florida voters are concerned about the impact of hurricane season on their ability to cast their ballots. Election officials are taking extra steps to ensure everyone has the opportunity to vote safely.
“This past weekend we had to access all 120 precincts to see (…) how much damage was sustained, which are reusable, and it looks like out of the 118 physical polling places we are down to about three or four that are questionable that still have water in the parking lot,” said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley. “One is definitely not going to be able to use but we are going to make that work. We’ll be able to relocate them to a continuous precinct.”
Early voting provides voters with the opportunity to cast their ballots before the official election day. This ensures that more people can participate in the democratic process.
“We’re going to have early voting and it’s going to go off without a hitch. Then lastly vote by mail, we have some individuals that are displaced, so we work with our partners the USPS to make sure those can get their mail, get their ballot, get it back to us. There’s plenty of time you can still request the mail ballots to be mailed to you October 24, 5 p.m., there’s plenty of time,” said Corley. “We have an election coming up we have three ways to vote. We are on track; it’s going to be a challenge in spite of all that, but we are going to make it work.”
For more information head to https://pascovotes.gov/.
Hillsborough County administrator extends local state of emergency in Milton update
TAMPA – Hillsborough County Administrator Bonnie Wise signed an order to extend the local state of emergency through October 27. This extension gives Wise and emergency managers the ability to make quick decisions when it comes to the health, safety and wellness of the community. Similarly, it allows the federal government to reimburse the county for certain hurricane-related expenses.
For Hillsborough County’s latest emergency-related information visit https://hcfl.gov/residents/stay-safe.
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