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New Help for Voters With Disabilities

Speakers at the: www.accessthevote.org website announcement at the Leon County Elections Operation Center were: (at podium) Tony DePalma from Disability Rights Florida; then from left to right: Florida Department of State Divisions of Elections Supervisor Maria Matthews; Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho; and Diana Sheffitt.
Tom Flanigan
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Floridians who have disabilities now have a new resource to help them vote in the upcoming elections. That resource was rolled out today (Tuesday) at the Leon County Elections Center in Tallahassee.

Speakers at the: www.accessthevote.org website announcement at the Leon County Elections Operation Center were: (at podium) Tony DePalma from Disability Rights Florida; then from left to right: Florida Department of State Divisions of Elections Supervisor Maria Matthews; Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho; and Diana Sheffitt.
Credit Tom Flanigan
/
The Florida Channel
Speakers at the: www.accessthevote.org website announcement at the Leon County Elections Operation Center were: (at podium) Tony DePalma from Disability Rights Florida; then from left to right: Florida Department of State Divisions of Elections Supervisor Maria Matthews; Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho; and Diana Sheffitt.

Dianna Shepeard has a number of disabilities. But she insists she and other folks with mental and physical challenges are pretty much like everyone else.

“Being disabled doesn’t mean that we’re not normal; we just do things a little slower,” she told reporters during a media event at the Center.

Now Shepeard and other Floridians with disabilities have a new resource to make voting a bit quicker and easier. It was announced by Disability Rights Florida’s Tony DePalma.

“Today Disability Rights Florida is launching its website: ‘Access the Vote.org’, which is a resource intended to educate and engage Floridians with disabilities about the services and other important information that will enable them to vote.”

DePalma said full use of those services could open the polls up to as many as 3 million more potential Florida voters. State and local election officials are also on board with the program.

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