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<body style="font: 10pt/normal Segoe UI; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><div class="GroupWiseMessageBody" id="GroupWiseSection_1595944308000_llewis@volusia.org_0CFB6DB014CF000091BD6C00F100DA00_"><div>Thank you Trish!<br></div><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="GroupWiseMessageBody" id="GroupWiseSection_1595944307000_llewis@volusia.org_0CFB6DB014CF000091BD6C00F100DA00_"><span class="GroupwiseReplyHeader">>>> "PLipovsky" <plipovsky@cfl.rr.com> 7/28/2020 9:42 AM >>><br></span><div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>Yes, we are very lucky to have Lisa. As we all know, she has always been ready and willing to work with the disabled community.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>Thank you so very much Lisa, and a big thanks to Florida Council of the Blind for pushing this through.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>PL <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style='font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div><div style="border-width: 1pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(225, 225, 225) currentColor currentColor; padding: 3pt 0in 0in; border-image: none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>From:</b> Brian Norton <brian.edward.norton@outlook.com> <br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, July 28, 2020 7:40 AM<br><b>To:</b> PLipovsky <plipovsky@cfl.rr.com>; NFB of Florida Greater Daytona Beach Chapter List <nfbf-daytona@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> dhall318@cfl.rr.com; ndbh16@gmail.com; Lisa Lewis <llewis@volusia.org>; Leonard Lempel <lempel7749@gmail.com>; Marilyn Baldwin <commmdb@aol.com>; ctate2076@att.net; merryschoch@verizon.net<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: State, advocacy group reach deal on blind voters<o:p></o:p></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Thanks Trish for posting this good news. I am glad Volusia has an knowledgeable and responsive election supervisor Lisa Lewis.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Gratefully,<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Brian<o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt;'>Brian</span></b><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt;'> <b>Edward Norton<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;'>National Federation of the Blind of Florida<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;'>NFBF Greater Daytona Beach President<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;'>NFBF Deaf Blind Division President<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;'>386.871.3359<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8pt;'><a href="mailto:brian.edward.norton@outlook.com">brian.edward.norton@outlook.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Apostle Paul:<o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; mso-line-height-alt: 14.4pt;"><em><span style='color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;'>We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.</span></em><span style='color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;'><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; line-height: 18pt;"><span style='color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;'>2 Corinthians 4:18<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div><div style="border-width: 1pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(225, 225, 225) currentColor currentColor; padding: 3pt 0in 0in; border-image: none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>From:</b> PLipovsky <<a href="mailto:plipovsky@cfl.rr.com">plipovsky@cfl.rr.com</a>> <br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 27, 2020 8:17 PM<br><b>To:</b> PLipovsky <<a href="mailto:plipovsky@cfl.rr.com">plipovsky@cfl.rr.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> FW: State, advocacy group reach deal on blind voters<o:p></o:p></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">From WJXT<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><b><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>TALLAHASSEE, Fla.</span></b><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'> – 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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>The agreement also requires statewide implementation of the process by March 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>“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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>The agreement was finalized on the 30th anniversary of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Dietz noted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>More than 500,000 Floridians are blind, and hundreds of thousands of others are print-impaired, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>“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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.5pt;'>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></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>