ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Amid controversy over surplus budget spending, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean spoke at a news conference on Tuesday on how the county will tackle future elections.
Ahead of the November election, Gilzean announced that the county expanded its early voting sites from 20 to 22. Through its contract with Valencia College, the county is looking to add six new early voting sites, potentially more as the college grows.
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“As we saw in the last election cycle, we desperately needed to increase early voting sites,” said Gilzean. “As the college continues to grow on either side, east or west side of those campuses, and they come online in the next five years, this contract allows us to also utilize those facilities.”
Orange County is the fourth largest county in the state with more than 850,000 registered voters.
The office aims to increase voter participation, with over 170,000 vote-by-mail registrations. The goal is to reach over a million active voters by 2026.
While there will not be another countywide election until 2026, several cities and towns are expected to have municipal elections next year.
The contract with Valencia College that will provide the additional voting sites is the same one at the center of controversy.
Last month, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings threatened a possible lawsuit against the Orange County Supervisor of Elections after Gilzean gave $4 million in surplus budget money to Valencia College and CareerSource Central Florida.
Gilzean’s term as supervisor of elections ends in January. He chose not to run for the office after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year.
Former state representative and school board member Karen Castor Dentel won the November election and will take over the post in January.
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