DeLand, FL - The mail-in ballots for the Volusia County half-cent sales surtax went out on May 1. This has caused Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis to get more phone calls and emails than usual. She said the issue is ballots sent to people who are either deceased or no longer live at the address listed.
Lewis sent out new voter information cards to all registered voters when she took office in 2016. With return mail with a new address, the cards were forwarded to that address. Lewis said if mail is not returned for a voter, it's assumed that they still live at the address.
The same goes for voters who are deceased. There are two ways that a voter can be removed. One is a notification from the state that the person is deceased. The other is by receiving a copy of the death certificate from a family member. That doesn't happen often. Lewis said family members are likely not thinking of the deceased voter's registration information.
Lewis said that more than 20,000 ballots were received on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Though she can't tell us how many ballots are yes or no on the half cent sales tax, the volusiaelections.org website shows ballots received as of May 7, 2019, are 10,782 Republican, 7,482 Democrat and 5,354 registered as Other.
Lewis reminds voters to make sure they sign their ballot, otherwise it won't count. Ballots need to be in the elections office by 7 p.m. on May 21 in order to be counted. The purpose of the surtax increase is to fund projects for county and municipal public facilities restricted to roads, sidewalks, bridges, water quality, stormwater and flood control, and amenities ancillary to those facilities. If approved, the tax will be in effect for 20 years.
