<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Greetings Federationists: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This is our second email with a state legislative alert. We received information from Marilyn Baldwin about a bill that was introduced in the Florida Senate amending Election Law. Thank you for sharing this bill with us. The bill is long and I will not attach it to this email, but we are most interested in lines 1196-1198, Vote By Mail. This bill intends to require all Vote By Mail requesters to show proof from a medical professional they are unable to physically go to a polling precinct to cast their ballot. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind has fought for years to ensure blind Americans have equal access to cast their vote securely, , privately and independently. This bill would undo this for many of us who choose to use a mail-in ballot. Under current Vote By Mail election rules, the state must guarantee we can cast a secure, verifiable, private and independent ballot without the assistance of a third party. There are different variables that come into play when discussing voting rights and disability. We are asking our members to contact their state legislature members to oppose this bill and request it be pulled. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Florida Senator Ileana Garcia-R, District 36 introduced this bill. At this time, there are no supporting co-sponsors and no House bill has been introduced. There is a template you may use when contacting your legislators at the end of this email, above my signature. If you do not know who your House and Senate members are in the state legislature, please visit FLHouse.gov and FLSenate.gov to find them. You may use the contact form on the website as we think it is accessible at this time. You may also call your legislators offices if you are more comfortable with that method. Chapters are encouraged to seek appointments when available to speak with their legislators as a group. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I have attached a resolution passed at our 2021 National Convention regarding suppression of voting rights for the disabled with certain documentation requirements. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>SB396 Template <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dear [insert legislator name]: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My name is [insert name]. I live in [insert city and state] and am your constituent. I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Florida. We are an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest transformative civil rights organization of blind people. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I am contacting you because of legislation recently introduced for the 2025 Legislative Session in Florida. Senate Bill 396 is seeking to amend voting rights in Florida that will infringe upon my privacy and right to cast a secret, verifiable, private and independent ballot. Voting is both a right and a privilege and is the cornerstone of American citizenship. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Help America Vote Act of 2001, disabled voters have certain guaranteed rights to cast our ballot with equal access as non-disabled voters. Senate Bill 396 will jeopardize these rights.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Contained within Senate Bill 396 is an amendment under Vote By Mail that would require me, if I choose to use Vote By Mail, to submit medical proof that I am unable to physically go to a polling precinct to cast my ballot. This will create a barrier to exercise my right to vote privately and independently. Additionally, placing such a requirement to exercise my right to vote infringes on my privacy, requiring me to share private and personal medical information to someone who is not my medical professional(s) or designated by me to have such a privilege.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I strongly urge the legislature to remove any barriers for disabled people to be able to vote on an equal basis with all other voters. We should not have to sacrifice our medical privacy and HIPPA rights before we can cast a private and independent vote using Vote By Mail. I have enclosed with this letter a resolution passed by the National Federation of the Blind in July 2021, indicating our organization’s position on certain documentation requirements that suppress a disabled voter’s right to vote privately and independently. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sincerely, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>[insert name] <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>[insert any NFB titles you hold]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> Camille Tate, president<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>National Federation of the Blind of Florida <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Board of Directors <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><a href="http://www.nfbflorida.org/"><span style='color:blue'>www.nfbflorida.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Tel: 321.372.4899<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>With love, hope and determination, we transform dreams into reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>