VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Minority elected officials in Volusia County reassured people on Friday that voting is safe and imperative for change. The press conference happened outside the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Office in DeLand.
“It is critical that we have representation from the community, for the community and about the community,” Volusia County Council Member Barbara Girtman said.
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From current and former council members to church leaders, each person spoke about the importance of early voting, especially in this year’s election.
“If you are concerned about Black Lives Matter, you will vote. It is key, it is critical, and it is important,” Reverend M.L. Kaufman said.
Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis showed News 6 inside the early voting room and explained just how safe it’ll become Monday.
“Election workers will be wearing masks or face shields. We will be disinfecting and cleaning all around the room throughout the day. We have staffed extra people for that reason,” she said.
Lewis said if voters are still not comfortable venturing out, they have until October 24th to request a mail-in ballot.
“We’ll send it to you and then you can drive up here and drop it off. We’ll have somebody outside that can take it from you or you can come inside and drop it off or drop it in the mail. Postage is paid on that,” said Lewis.
She said they’ve mailed out about 170,000 ballots so far, breaking a Volusia County record of 101,000. Volunteers spent hours today peeling off flap covers with voters' contact information, sorting and verifying signatures before the ballots are taken to be canvassed.
“We don’t want people out there trying to scare people into not voting. That’s not what we’re about. We want people to vote, vote their choice, place it in the box and walk out happy that they have voted,” said Lewis.