It’s TIIIIIIIIIME! 🗳

Did you miss me?

Hey guys, it’s Christie Zizo, busting in like Mariah Carey to herald the start of the season: the VOTING SEASON, that is!

Yes friends, two years have actually passed and it’s time to start thinking about politics and government and elections. Of course, you should always be thinking about government, since it governs everyday life.

• Potholes on the road you drive: Government.
• Teacher vacancies in your kids’ schools: Government.
• Response times for first responders: Government.

As Americans, we have a duty to understand how our government works, and when it doesn’t work, ask why and GET RESULTS. And if we can’t get results from our current leaders in office, we push to get results at the ballot box.

We’re already a few weeks into January and already that’s happening.

Democrats flip Republican Florida House seat in Central Florida special election

Democrats are taking a big victory lap on this one.

Lake Nona businessman and veteran Tom Keen beat Osceola County School Board member Erika Booth on Tuesday to win the Florida House District 35 special election.

Keen, a Democrat, will represent east Orange and Osceola counties, which were formerly represented by Republican Fred Hawkins, who won the seat in 2022 but left last year to become president of a state college in South Florida.

Hawkins won Florida House District 35 by 11 points in 2022. On Tuesday, Keen won it by 3. As News 6 political analyst Dr. Jim Clark points out, that’s a 14-point swing in the Democrat’s favor, and a huge deal in politics.

What could have fueled this swing? Well, Democrats had a massive get-out-the-vote operation, true, but it helps that they had two big issues to hammer Republicans on: property insurance and abortion.

It’s simple: if voters are happy with how members of a majority party are handling a major issue, they may look elsewhere — provided there is a viable alternative.

I asked some experts to break down the Democratic strategy, explain how no-party-affiliate voters played such a big part in this outcome, and what it means for 2024. Check out my story.

Key 2024 Election Dates

Here are the big Election Dates for Florida. Put these in your schedule to remember:

Florida Presidential Preference Primary: March 19

• Register to vote deadline: Feb. 20
• Vote-by-mail ballot request deadline: March 7

Only a Republican primary, no Democratic primary this go around. However, there will be elections for residents of certain cities and towns. We are working on getting a list together and I’ll send out another newsletter when I have it.

2024 Florida Statewide Primary Election: Aug. 20

• Register to vote deadline: July 22
• Vote-by-mail ballot request deadline: Aug. 8

If there are any party primaries for federal, state or local races, they will happen here. Also, any nonpartisan county races will happen here.

2024 General Election: Nov. 5

• Register to vote deadline: Oct. 7
• Vote-by-mail ballot request deadline: Oct. 24

This one’s for all the marbles. All voters welcome.

From rolling back vote-by-mail to automatic registration, Florida lawmakers are tinkering with voting again

Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays does not mince words.

So when I asked him about a bill that would roll back Florida’s no-excuse vote-by-mail law in time for the August 2024 primary, he responded with characteristic bluntness.

“It would be a complete disaster,” Hays said.

SB 1752 would change the law so that voters could only vote by mail if they had a reason:

• Going to be away from their county of residence
• Unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical disability
• Because you are the primary caregiver for someone who is ill or physically disabled
• A resident or patient of a VA medical facility
• Is in jail but is still qualified to vote

Anyone found lying about their request would be convicted of a third-degree felony, fined up to $5,000 and could be imprisoned for up to 5 years.

This is one of several election-related bills up for discussion during the 60-day Florida Legislative Session happening right now in Tallahassee.

Among the other bills filed:

SB 190: Requires a law enforcement officer to supervise ballot boxes at all times

SB 780: Allowing supervisors of elections to designate additional early voting sites in certain areas

HB 1035: Several changes, including automatic voter registration through the DMV, permanent vote-by-mail requests, a centralized voter eligibility database, allowing voters to register up to and including Election Day

SB 1602: Requiring the Florida Dept. of State and the local supervisors of elections to verify citizenship status information

SB 1670: Requiring more language assistance for voters who have limited English proficiency

Of course, the electoral process could always be improved (never stop working on yourself, right?), but in 2020 Florida’s elections were hailed as the gold standard by everyone — including Gov. Ron DeSantis. And Hays says over the last few years the legislature is still “tinkering and tinkering and tinkering” and passing laws that the people with the most experience in running a Florida election — the county elections supervisors — never asked for.

“There are no legislators with any election administration experience,” said Hays, who was a Republican state legislator before he took over the Lake County elections office. “They have no business telling us, the elections professionals, how to do our job. That’s the way I look at it. If we need their help, we will ask them. As a matter of fact, we very respectfully have sent them a list this year of saying, ‘Please do nothing.’”

“We need time to let the changes of these previous three years take effect here and let the voters deserve some continuity from one election to the next, to the next,” he added. “All of this change, change, change is very detrimental to the confidence and it’s a disservice to the voters of this state.”

But how do you feel about Florida’s election laws? What changes would you like to be made? Sound off by sending me an email at czizo@wkmg.com.

And if you want to tell your lawmakers how you feel about changes to the election process in Florida, here is how you can contact them.

Have election questions? We have answers

Here’s everything you need to know to vote in Florida in 2024

Want to vote in Florida? Here’s how to register and make sure you are eligible

Planning to vote by mail in Florida this year? Here’s what you need to know

Florida is a closed primary state. Why that matters for primary elections in 2024

Want to run for office in Florida? Here’s how to do it

35 Florida elections myths and misinformation debunked

Have an election question you need answered? Email me at czizo@wkmg.com.

I say thee yea, Bill Cowles

As someone who has covered politics in Central Florida for 20 years, I just want to take a moment to personally address some important news.

Orange County’s supervisor of elections, Bill Cowles, is going to retire after nearly 30 years in the position on Jan. 31.

In an age when people expect their politicians to be loud and constantly trumpeting their horns, Cowles followed his own drumbeat. He quietly, competently, did his job and led his team. If there were issues, Cowles took ownership of them and found solutions.

“’Bill’s boring,’” Cowles said to me recently, quoting an Orlando Sentinel column about his retirement. “And I accept that, that was a great compliment because I have worked very hard to be the non-controversial, low-key... oh, OK.”

Cowles also made outreach a major part of his job. He partnered with community groups to create the Adopt-A-Precinct project to help fund and manage election polling places. It’s a project that was replicated across the state. He also helped create the voter registration hotline.

And he was always available to explain the finer points of election law to us in the media. I’ve been writing those election and voting FAQs I shared above for years, and I could always count on Cowles to take my calls, answer my questions, and even read my stories over to make sure they were accurate.

We have great local elections supervisors and workers in Central Florida, and I have no doubt that part of the reason for that is the example that Cowles has set.

Gov. DeSantis will be appointing someone to fill the rest of Cowles’ term in office, which ends this year. But he feels that he has a team that will be able to carry on the work without him.

“Whoever comes in... there’s a March 19 election, so there’s not a lot of time,” Cowles said. “So I hope they’ll use the guidance of this staff that I leave behind and the staff has a total of 425 years of elections experience. So just kind of follow them.”

So I say thee yea, Bill Cowles. Happy Retirement and thank you.