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Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Office
Summer News 2017
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SUMMER NEWS



ExpressVote




DS200

 
NEW VOTING EQUIPMENT READY TO ROLL!
Indian River County has officially acquired its new voting system. Going forward we will be in compliance with Florida election law, which mandates that by 2020 all counties must be using a voting system that enables all voters the ability to cast a vote in the same manner, regardless of physical limitations, using a paper ballot. The ExpressVote enables voters with disabilities to cast their ballot using a touch-screen, remote control and headphones or sip and puff attachment. The DS200s are optical readers and will be replacing the Insights that were previously used for tabulation at Early Voting and Election Day polling places.
 
The most obvious change will be the ballot marking instructions. Connecting two parts of the arrows is out, and filling in the oval is in! Twenty DS200s and ten ExpressVotes are ready to be deployed to ten polling places for the upcoming Municipal Elections. In June, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), our new voting system provider,  hosted on-site hardware and software training for our staff, that concluded with a successful logic and accuracy test and a mock election. Videos of the DS200 and ExpressVote can be found at VoteIndianRiver.com.

               
Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections (FSASE)
Summer Conference
The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections held their annual summer conference in Orlando this past June. IT Manager Gary Gordon served on a panel of presenters who discussed converting the voter registration rolls to address by identification points, a method the Indian River County Elections Office has been using since 2011. The purpose of the panel was to provide insight to the remaining counties as to the advantages of converting to an address identification-based point system. Supervisor Swan and Election Management Specialist Maureen Houssell attended presentations regarding Online Voter Registration, Inventory Management, Confrontation Avoidance, Election Worker Recruitment, Civic Engagement and Election Integrity.
Voter Registration
The Voter Registration Department completed an audit of our voter registration database. The audit of over 100,000 records ensures that every registered voter in Indian River County has a clear signature clip attached to their record. This proactive approach will help expedite the signature verification process for vote-by-mail ballots during future elections.

Financial Disclosure Forms (Form 1)
The Elections Office works in partnership with the Florida Commission on Ethics to serve as the records custodian for Financial Disclosure Forms (Form 1).  In May, form packets were sent to 252 Indian River County residents who hold certain positions or serve on boards that are required by Florida law to file a Form 1. They are required to disclose sources of income, real property, investments, liabilities and ownership in certain types of businesses. The Elections Office notifies the Commission on Ethics electronically as completed forms are received.  Completed forms were due by July 3, 2017.  Fines are accessed for late filers.   

Polling Place Changes
Precinct Maps have been updated to reflect recent polling place changes. Voters who previously cast a ballot at Saint Edwards School will now vote at Holy Cross Catholic Church. Those who previously cast a ballot at Morning Star Presbyterian Church and Highland's P.O.A. will now vote at the Intergenerational Recreation Center. New Voter Information Cards will be mailed to voters in the affected precincts, as required by law, 30 days prior to the August 28, 2018 Primary Election. The name and address of their new polling place will be listed on the new card. A picture and driving directions can also be found at VoteIndianRiver.com. In addition, Precinct 37 will be renumbered to Precinct 29, but voters residing in this precinct will continue to vote at the Realtors Association of Indian River County. 

New Precinct Numbers/Locations
Precinct 18- Holy Cross Catholic Church
Precinct 28- Intergenerational Recreation Center
Precinct 29- Realtors Association of Indian River County

 
Election Workers
Election Worker Coordinator Shane Bias is in the final phase of reformatting Election Worker Manuals and Step-by-Step guides to reflect the new voting equipment.  Shane will be traveling to Fort Myers for Election Center's Summer Education Program in pursuit of his Certified Election/Registration Administrator (CERA) designation. Upon returning, Shane will perform updated ADA compliance surveys for  Indian River County's 21 polling locations and coordinate the relocation and placement of new polling location signs for Precinct 18, 28 and 29. 

Orientation is scheduled for Wednesday, September 13 from 10:00 am to noon. Call 772-226-3844  or email SBias@voteindianriver.com for more information or to RSVP. Training for the Municipal Elections begins in mid October. 
Vote-By-Mail
Vote-By-Mail Coordinator, Daisy Zamora successfully created and executed a demonstration of printing a mail ballot mailing. Her next demonstration will be on the assembly of mail ballot packets, enabling her to become proficient with the mail ballot folding equipment and the new Neopost Insterter, which automatically assembles mail ballot materials. Daisy continues to study Florida's election laws, focusing on laws pertaining to voting by mail. She has been reviewing past Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA) and Federal Write-In Absentee Ballots (FWAB) to familiarize herself with the process. Updates to the two forms are underway, pending review from the Federal Register. She is also making improvements to the vote-by-mail stationary, in hopes of making it easier for voters not to forget to sign their voted ballot.  

Daisy has also reached out to Indian River County's Assisted Living Facilities to provide them with electronic copies of both Voter Registration and Vote-By-Mail Request Forms. A Vote-By-Mail reminder is now being included in all outgoing Voter Information Cards. If you would like to request a vote-by-mail ballot for future elections, call Daisy Zamora at 772-226-3845.
Communications & Outreach
Communications & Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Nelson recently attended a media conference hosted by the Treasure Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association and will be attending the association's annual conference in August.  Keynote speakers include University of South Florida's Distinguished Professor and election guru Dr. Susan MacManus, City of Orlando's Mayor Buddy Dyer and Amazon's Director of Corporate Relations, Scott Stanzel. Professional development opportunities such as these ensure that the Elections Office stays abreast of changes in crisis communication, conflict resolution, digital communication, public relations and strategic partnerships. 

We recently participated in Peacekeepers and Protectors Day at Velde Ford and the IRC Employee Health Fair. Stephanie also spent a morning working alongside members of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Network, constructing a roof at Habitat for Humanity's Waterside Subdivision. Future outreach events include a voting presentation for Youth Guidance's Pathfinders Excel Group. Soon Elections staff will be taking a field trip, across the parking lot, to visit the County's Emergency Operations Center. Our offices are so close, yet most of us have never been inside. It will be a great opportunity to collect ideas for contingency planning as it pertains to natural disasters and various other emergencies.
Supervisor Swan and Kathy Crockett
Indian River County Employee Health Fair
Kathy Crockett and Cathy Boyle
Peacekeepers and Protector's Day at Velde
Election Management
Election Management Specialist Maureen Houssell completed in-house hardware and software training hosted by election equipment vendor ES&S. She is also working towards her Certified Elections/Registration Administrator designation and will be joining Election Worker Coordinator Shane Bias for Election Center's Summer Education Program. Looking ahead, Maureen will be creating a Step-by-Step checklist for election programming, revising security procedures and submitting changes to the State for approval, and following up with the Division of Elections on precinct renumbering and new boundary lines. 
Richie Lemoi finished tagging and labeling the new voting equipment, including 76 DS200s and 42 ExpressVotes. Labels and inventory tags help ensure the equipment is properly accounted for and assembled. Richie also reconstructed two steel racks to house our ExpressVotes. He has also staged four DS200s and four ExpressVotes to be used for training classes in October. 
IT Manager Gary Gordon completed redistricting for precincts that were relocated and/or consolidated. He will also be updating commercial addresses in the address point system. Gary is spearheading our transition to going digital, which entails the Elections Office storing digital images of voter registration and mail ballot request forms as opposed to papers copies. 

 

Democracy Starts With You! 

4375 43rd Avenue
Vero Beach, FL 32967
Phone: 772-226-3440
www.VoteIndianRiver.com


Leslie Rossway Swan

Indian River County

Supervisor of Elections

Copyright © 2017 Indian River County Supervisor of Elections, All rights reserved.


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