ORLANDO, Fla. – Workers in Orange County are getting ready for a push to register voters and answer questions about changes for the 2022 election cycle.
Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles and his office teamed up with News 6 on Monday to host a voter registration phone bank.
At the time of this writing, more than 1,800 calls were placed with the voter registration phone bank. However, that number is expected to change as elections staffers calculate all calls, registrations and vote-by-mail requests by county.
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During the event, workers took calls to ensure voters across Central Florida are prepared to cast their ballots.
“This is the opportunity to get your record straight and make sure you know what you need to know for election day,” Cowles said. “We just want to make sure everybody who wants to participate has the correct information.”
Cowles said one of the most common requests over the phone is a change of address.
After Florida Senate Bill 90 was signed into law this year, voters who want to change their address by phone or email must include a Florida driver’s license number, Florida ID Card number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
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“That you will have to give to us and as long as it matches what we have in the system for you, we can proceed,” Cowles said.
Another change applies to vote-by-mail. Previously a request would be valid for two election cycles, but now a voter must request a ballot each election cycle.
“If you got one back in 2018 and 2020, that was under the (old) system,” Cowles said. “Now you have to request it every election cycle.”
In Orange County, anyone registering for the first time or making a party change must do so by July 25.
With several deadlines approaching voters are urged to act now to prevent problems down the road.
“By doing it now, it’ll all be correct,” Cowles said. “You’ll know the exact location because we want to get you to the right place the first time.”
As voters across Central Florida are making sure they’re all set ahead of next month’s primary election, Steve Berguron in Seminole County said he’s not taking any chances.
“You know you go up there to vote first time and it’s like, ‘No, you’re not good.’” he said. “That’s got to be frustrating.”
Early voting in Seminole County will be Aug. 13-20.
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