Florida demands plan from Osceola County Supervisor of Elections after ballot issues
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Department of State sent a letter to Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington demanding a plan to fix labeling problems with vote by mail ballot envelopes.
According to the letter, in two primary elections, Osceola County Supervisor of Elections violated Florida law which states that “a mailing envelope or secrecy envelope may not bear any indication of the political affiliation of an absent elector” by “preparing envelopes that included R and D coding to indicate the party of the voter receiving vote by mail.”
The Florida Department of State demanded Arrington provide a “written plan regarding remedial measures that will be taken to mitigate future violations of Florida Statues” regarding the upcoming special election primary for state representative District 35.
A spokesperson for Osceola County Supervisor of Elections told Florida’s Voice they have submitted a “vote-by-mail ballot review procedure” to the Department of State, along with “new checklists for proofing and training.”
In two instances, the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections acknowledged fault.
The letter said during the August 2022 primary, the Osceola County office prepared envelopes that “included R and D coding to indicate the party of the voter receiving vote by mail.” The state said the county informed their office this was an issue with the vendor and would be remedied in the future.
The Division of Elections contacted the county again on Oct. 10 regarding vote by mail ballot envelopes for the state representative District 35 special primary election that included “R and D” coding.
The county responded and said they were sending out replacement return envelopes to all of the voters who were affected.
On Oct. 10, WFTV published an article titled “Osceola County violates state law by printing party affiliation on absentee ballot envelopes.”
Arrington admitted to the outlet that “there was a mistake” and they use a third-party vendor, Magnolia Press, to print and mail out absentee ballots.
“Just like when you use any third party, you don’t have complete control. We send them the information in a data file. They use that information that we send them to then process the ballots. We do not see them before they hit the mailbox,” Arrington told the outlet.
The department demanded the plan within 10 calendar days of the letter.
The department said if they didn’t receive a sufficient written plan within 30 days, they would be forced to bring an action to enforce the performance of your duties in accordance with the Florida Election Code.
Further, the Florida Department of State said they will be sending observers to oversee the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections vote by mail process for the Nov. 7 special primary election.
