Glen Gilzean, the Gov. DeSantis-appointed supervisor of elections in Orange County, will not run for the seat and will leave when the term is up.

On Thursday, Gil Gilzean had just four days on the job as Orange County’s newly-appointed supervisor of elections when he met face-to-face with the man who held the position for nearly three decades.

Orange County’s new elections supervisor met with staffers Thursday and got a grand tour of part of the facility from someone who knew it best —former Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints the head of the district that oversees Walt Disney World property to be Orange County’s supervisor of elections.

After 34 years and 103 election days highlighted by the 2000 vote recount that decided America’s 43rd President, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles will officially step down from the job that has been the hallmark of his professional life since 1989.

A cadre of Florida voting and civil rights groups are urging Orange County’s outgoing elections supervisor to appoint a deputy, two days before he retires. But the supervisor insists the office is already in good hands.

Election Results Newsletter 2024 Issue 1

The retirement of Orange County’s longtime supervisor of elections has Democrats fearing who Gov. DeSantis will put in the office.

Orange County’s longtime supervisor of elections will retire at the end of January, two months before the first major election for 2024.

Ahead of many local election races happening across Central Florida, we got a look inside the Orange County Supervisor of Elections warehouse Monday as workers gear up.

Bill Cowles, Orange County’s longest-serving elections supervisor, will retire at the end of his current term to enjoy time with his family, he announced Wednesday.

News 6 got a look inside of the warehouse at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office

With early voting already underway, Judge Jeff Ashton of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court issued a temporary injunction.

Ahead of the general election, Orange County supervisor of elections Bill Cowles is making sure he and his workers are all set, but he is also keeping in mind early voting numbers and the turnout.

Millions of Floridians have already cast their ballot ahead of the midterm election.

Monday, we saw election workers in Orange County taking calls from residents, making sure they're all set ahead of Tuesday's registration deadline in person, by mail or online to vote on November 8th.

Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles announced Wednesday that vote-by-mail ballots for Orange County are on their way to voters.

Over 950 people called in Tuesday when News 6 once again partnered with the Orange County supervisor of elections for a voter registration phone bank.

In honor of Disability Voting Rights Week, which runs Sept. 12-16, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections plans to host a demonstration of the ExpressVote System.

Governor Ron DeSantis accuses local Supervisors of Elections of not caring about election laws.

Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles is speaking out after News 6 showed him our story about Peter Washington, who was arrested following accusations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

With a general election on Nov. 8, here is what you need to know if you want to vote by mail in 2022.

Time is running out to cast your ballot before Tuesday's Florida primary election.

Early voting for the primary election has started in Orange and Osceola counties.

A candidate in an upcoming Orange County race is worried language on voter information cards sent out by the county supervisor of elections office might keep some voters away on Aug. 23.

Workers in Orange County are getting ready for a push to register voters and answer questions about changes for the 2022 election cycle.

With a primary coming up on Aug. 23 and a general election on Nov. 8, here is what you need to know if you want to vote by mail in 2022.

Florida taxpayers stand to potentially pay millions of dollars in legal fees as the state defends it’s latest election law.

Stay safe and stay home.”“This coming on the eve of election, we think is designed to suppress the vote tomorrow,” said Orange County Democratic Party Chair Wes Hodge, while standing across the street from the Supervisor of Elections Office Monday. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said he didn’t know there was an issue until he saw Hodge holding a news conference across the street from the elections office. “We do know that Republicans make up a large number of the voters that vote on election day. Who can possibly tell?”“The Florida Department of State has not received any reports regarding a robocall encouraging people to stay home on Election Day,” said spokesman Mark Ard. If anyone has an issue voting on Election Day they can call the Voter Protection Hotline at 833-VOTE-FLA.

ORLANDO, Fla. – As election workers make final preparations for Election Day, Orange County’s Supervisor of Elections is answering last-minute questions for voters preparing to cast their ballots. If a voter is still holding onto a vote-by-mail ballot, Cowles said it’s too late to send it in the mail. For anyone arriving near the time when polls close, Cowles urged voters to stay in line until their ballot is cast. Cowles said workers at his office are available to answer any questions about Election Day. We had a record turnout, we had almost 70,000 people and we’ve had a 62% turnout countywide with early voting and mail ballots."

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Early voting ends on Sunday, giving voters three more days to cast their ballots at early voting locations. [TRENDING: COVID-19 closes early voting location | Can you get COVID-19 twice? He said the early voting is done on Sunday night, meaning they will have 100% of those numbers. In terms of the vote-by-mail ballots, Cowles said they’ve been processing those and will likely have about 95% of those completed. “We know that the last weekend of early voting is always the heaviest,” Cowles said.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – As election day nears, several elections supervisors in Central Florida said that they expect a record number of votes to be cast in the 2020 presidential election. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said more than 235,000 people have already returned their mail-in ballots, with another 181,000 people who participated in in-person early voting. Osceola County Supervisor of Elections, Mary Jane Arrington said that about 70,000 of nearly 100,000 requested mail-in ballots have already been returned. Marion County Supervisor of Elections, Wesley Wilcox said that his county is already nearing a 60% voter turn-out with early and mail-in ballots. In Lake County, Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays said of the 90,000 requested mail-in ballots, about 60,000 have already been returned.

“Voters can help us prevent a recount by getting out and voting in this election,” Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision halting the recount, Al Gore conceded the election to George W. Bush with just 537 votes separating the two. “Since the 2000 election, Florida has streamlined its process,” Cowles said. Under state law, machine recounts are triggered when the margin is less than or equal to one-half percent of total votes. “After the 2018 election, we said to the county commission, ‘We need more high-speed counters to help separate ballots in preparation for a recount,'” Cowles told News 6.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – First-time voter, Micah Gregory, said he tried to vote in the 2020 Primary Election, but said his vote didn’t count because of a mismatched signature, that he failed to submit a cure affidavit for. Orange County Supervisor of Elections, Bill Cowles, said they’ve already seen hundreds of signature issues this election. Cowles said, as of October 21st, they’ve received 567 ballots without a signature and 769 where the signature differs. Gregory said, in his case, by the time he realized there was an issue with his ballot, it was too late. Cowles said voters who have provisionally rejected ballots, have until 5pm on the Thursday after the election to cure their ballot, so that it counts.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County’s elections website is not available Monday morning, the first day of early voting, due to a technical issue. The Orange County Supervisor of Elections website, ocfelections.com, is unavailable but can be accessed by using https://34.232.90.38/, according to Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles. We have encountered a technical issue with our DNS server (that) translates the IP address to the domain name,” officials said in a statement. "Our site has not been hacked and there has not been any security breach, this is a technical issue (that) we are working to resolve. There will be a warning because of the issue with the DNS server, but the site is secure and safe, officials said.

ORLANDO, Fla. – With early voting beginning Monday in nearly every Central Florida county, voters are being urged to keep a few things in mind before heading off to the polls. [RESULTS 2020: Voter Guide]The early voting locations can be found on sample ballots, which have been mailed out to registered voters. It’s four pages of voting, so pre-mark your sample ballot and bring it with you,” Cowles said. Early voting begins in every Central Florida county on Monday except for Sumter County, which begins on Tuesday. For more details about voting in Orange County, visit ocfelections.com

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said public testing of the equipment has to happen before they can start processing vote-by-mail ballots. Florida statutes state that supervisor of elections must publicly test 5% of precinct tabulating equipment. In Orange County, that means 19 machines that will be used at early voting sites and precincts must be publicly tested. [2020 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of the presidential election | Voting by mail? Here’s how to track your ballot]It also states that all vote-by-mail tabulating equipment be tested, which is seven machines in Orange County.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Monday, Oct. 5 was the last day for Florida voters to register to vote in the 2020 General Election. Being the last day, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office was very busy, both inside and outside. Orange County’s Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said the department will have record breaking numbers of registered voters for the 2020 General Election. Cowles said the number of registered voters is constantly changing due to people registering online, in person and through mandated sites like libraries. As of Monday at noon there were already at over 849,000 registered, compared to 776,721 in 2016.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The deadline to register to vote during November’s general election is quickly approaching. Cowles said the county is on track to have a record number of registered voters for this general election. Two years ago when we had the U.S. Senate race and the Governor’s contest, we had almost 798,000 registered voters,” Cowles said. According to the elections office website, there are 849,974 registered voters in Orange County. Cowles said you can also print the registration form from the state elections website or from your local elections office website and mail it in.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Supervisor of Elections office will be open Saturday to help register people to vote before the registration deadline. To help accommodate people ahead of the cut-off date, the Supervisor of Elections office is extending its hours. “This is a chance for voters who cannot come in during our normal business hours to make sure they get registered before the deadline,” Bill Cowles, Orange County Supervisor of Elections said in a news release. Orange County voters can get a preview of their ballot now at ocfelections.com on the What’s On My Ballot page. Orange County voters can visit ocfelections.com or call (407) 836-2070 for more information about the upcoming election, requesting a vote-by-mail ballot and more.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Amway Center played host to a National Voter Registration Day event on Tuesday. Of the 25, Cowles said 22 were Orange County residents and three were from Seminole County. | Gunman shoots 2 teens at skating rink | Michael Jordan forms NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace]Having the voter registration event at the Amway Center encouraged some to come out. He said Orlando Magic player Mo Bamba then started the initiative here and the team reached out to his office. And it’s something Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford said has been important for them as a team.

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. There are six Florida constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot this November. Election officials tell News 6 a lot of these amendments have tricky language and it makes them difficult to understand. Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington said shes seen voters take 45 minutes in past elections, trying to go through the amendments on the ballot. One of the amendments voters will see on the ballot is the Citizenship Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections amendment. She added, the amendment is, just adding words, its not going to change anything if it passes or not.The Florida Division of Elections provided this link to show the six amendments on the November ballot.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday for Floridas Primary Election and they wont close until 7 p.m. local time. Florida is a closed primary state, meaning voters can only cast ballots for candidates running for the party in which they are registered. Its Primary Day and election workers are preparing to open the polls for in-person voting during a pandemic. She said she registered to vote the first chance she could and has voted in every election since, usually being in line when polls open on Election Day. As of June 30, Florida had nearly 4.9 million active Republican voters and more than 5.1 million active Democratic voters.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Final preps are underway this weekend at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office as early voting wraps up this weekend. Poll workers and staff were at the elections office Saturday morning preparing for the primary election day on Tuesday. Cowles said that is because the elections office is also an early voting location. He said you should drop it off at an early voting location by 7 p.m. on Sunday when early voting ends. Early voting ends in Orange and Osceola counties on Sunday, August 16.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. With talks of the United States Postal Service receiving funding in reference to mail-in voting delivery, two Central Florida election officials told News 6 they havent noticed any delayed in delivery. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said his office received a record amount of mail-in ballots than any other primary election in the countys history. [RELATED: 2020 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of Floridas primary election]"We are very satisfied with the service we are getting from the postal service. Thats what I deal with and the postal employees are bringing me the mail every day, said Hays. Cowles said that 2019 legislation requires Florida counties to offer to drop off boxes at early voting locations as well as the election office.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. During this years primary election, hundreds of thousands of Orange County registered voters will not cast their ballots for sheriff, property appraiser, or state attorney. There are two write-in candidates for both the sheriff and property appraiser races, as well as a non-party affiliated candidate running for state attorney, these are now partisan contests and only Democrats can vote. However, Cowles said statistically write-in candidates dont win county, state, or federal races. Weve seen it before, sometimes the write-in candidates will withdraw and then the contest will be over, Cowles said. The primary election day is Tuesday, Aug. 18.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Early voting kicked off in Orange County Monday for Floridas primary election. Orange County residents who decide to participate in early or regular voting will decide on key positions like county commissioner, school board member, state attorney, circuit judge or sheriff. The supervisor of elections for Orange County said if its not a match, voters are notified through a cure affidavit process. In 2014 there were 296,988 early voters and 2018, more than double that number with 661,891 voters that headed to the polls early to cast their vote. Millenials are a key voting block with our Hispanic community.The last day for early voting in Orange County is Aug. 16.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Orange County's supervisor of elections is answering questions about the 2020 elections ahead of a voter registration phone bank on Monday. "Then, there are other requirements where it has to be done on a voter registration form." As with any election year, voters have the option to cast their ballot in person through early voting or on election day. The voter registration phone bank is scheduled for 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 29. To call News 6s phone bank on Monday, just dial 407-836-VOTE (8683).

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said when you take a look at Orange Countys new registered voter numbers, you can see the impact of COVID-19. The numbers show that April saw 1,564 new registered voters, compared to 4,089 in April of 2016. June 2016 saw 24,467 new registered voters, and as of June 11, Orange County is at 24,519. He said voters will be able to early vote, vote by mail, and head to the polls to cast their ballots. 1 way people vote in Orange County is by early voting.