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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks Trish for posting this good news. I am glad Volusia has an knowledgeable and responsive election supervisor Lisa Lewis.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gratefully,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Brian<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Brian</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Edward Norton<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">National Federation of the Blind of Florida<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">NFBF Greater Daytona Beach President<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">NFBF Deaf Blind Division President<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">386.871.3359<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">brian.edward.norton@outlook.com</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apostle Paul:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<em><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#222222">We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.</span></em><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#222222"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:18.0pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#222222">2 Corinthians 4:18<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> PLipovsky <plipovsky@cfl.rr.com> <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 27, 2020 8:17 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> PLipovsky <plipovsky@cfl.rr.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> FW: State, advocacy group reach deal on blind voters<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From WJXT<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">TALLAHASSEE, Fla.</span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black"> – A deal finalized
over the weekend will allow blind voters to fill out ballots secretly at home, putting an end to a broader legal tangle over Florida’s vote-by-mail processes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The deal, finalized Sunday by the Florida Council of the Blind and Secretary of State Laurel Lee, will require
five counties -- Miami-Dade, Nassau, Orange, Pinellas and Volusia -- to implement a program allowing blind and print-impaired voters to fill out ballots online.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The agreement also requires statewide implementation of the process by March 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The five counties agreed to have the system in time for the Nov. 3 elections, according to Florida Council of
the Blind lawyer Matthew Dietz.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">“Voting by secret ballot is essential to the integrity of the electoral process as it allows voters to cast their
ballot without fear or intimidation,” Dietz said in a prepared statement Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The agreement was finalized on the 30th anniversary of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Dietz noted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">More than 500,000 Floridians are blind, and hundreds of thousands of others are print-impaired, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">“For my clients who are blind, and those with other print disabilities who need to use technology to complete
a ballot, a paper ballot did not allow them the same benefits and privileges of every other citizen. This settlement provides the means to do so,” Dietz said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The issue was part of a broader legal case in which the groups Priorities USA and Dream Defenders and other plaintiffs
sought to make changes to help expand voting by mail. The plaintiffs sought to extend a deadline for mail-in ballots to be returned to elections supervisors and wanted free postage for absentee ballots. They also challenged a provision in Florida law restricting
paid workers from collecting mail-in ballots. But the day before a trial was slated to begin last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle signed off on a settlement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">Under the settlement, Lee will “educate” and “encourage” county supervisors of elections about a variety of vote-by-mail
procedures that were at the heart of the case. For example, the state’s top elections official will be required to educate supervisors about pre-paid postage for mail-in ballots.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:black">The settlement also will encourage local elections officials “to maximize the use of drop boxes for vote-by-mail
ballots” and to inform voters about the availability of the ballot drop-off sites.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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