2018-004 Amending Absentee Voting to Vote-by-Mail ORDINANCE NO. 2018-004
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AMENDING
SECTION 5-12 OF THE CITY CODE GOVERNING ABSENTEE
VOTING TO DESIGNATE SUCH ABSENTEE VOTING AS "VOTE-
BY-MAIL," AS IS CONSISTENT WITH RECENT CHANGES TO THE
ELECTION STATUTES; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION,
CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City has determined that citations to State Statute contained within
and incorporated into Section 5-12 of the City Code governing absentee ballots are in
need of correction in light of a recent amendment by the Legislature to the relevant
election statute; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature has recently amended the election statutes to use the
term "vote-by-mail" ballot instead of "absentee" ballot, and the City finds that it is
appropriate to similarly amend Section 5-12 of the City Code with respect to such terms;
and
WHEREAS, the City finds that this ordinance is in the interests of the public
welfare, health and safety and serves a public purpose.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby ratified and confirmed as
true and correct and incorporated herein by this reference.
Section 2. Authority. The City Commission of the City of Ocoee has the
authority to adopt this Ordinance pursuant to Article VIII of the Constitution of the State
of Florida and Chapter 166, Florida Statutes.
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Section 3. Amendment of City Code. Chapter 5, Article I, General
Provisions, Section 5-12 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Ocoee, Florida, is hereby
amended as follows (words that are stricken out are deletions; words that are
underlined are additions):
§ 5-12.—Vote-By-Mail Voting.
A. The term "absentee elector" shall mean any qualified elector who is authorized by the Florida
Statutes to vote by vote-by-mail ballot. Such person may cast a vote-by-mail ballot upon
compliance with the absent electors provisions of this section.
B. Vote-by-mail voting in the municipal elections provided for in this Article shall be permitted and
governed by the provisions of the Florida Statutes governing vote-by-mail ballots, and such
provisions are hereby adopted as a means of providing for vote-by-mail voting in the municipal
election, provided that all forms required to be prepared by the City Clerk and executed in her
presence shall be prepared by the City Clerk but may be deposited by her with the Supervisor
of Elections of Orange County, and all functions of the City Clerk in connection with the handling
of such vote-by-mail ballots, including, but not limited to, the verification of signatures, the
handling of applications therefor, the issuance of the ballot and receipt and disposition of
ballots, may be handled by the Supervisor of Elections of Orange County, except that all vote-
by-mail ballots for voting in the municipal election received by the Supervisor of Elections shall
be turned over and delivered to the City Canvassing Board, and such ballots shall be
canvassed by the City Canvassing Board in the manner prescribed by Florida Statutes.
Section 4. Codification. It is the intention of the City Commission of the City
that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of
Ordinances of the City; and that sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or
relettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "chapter," "section," "article," or
such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions; and
regardless of whether such inclusion in the Code is accomplished, sections of this
Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the correction of typographical errors
which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager, without need of
public hearing, by filing a corrected or recodified copy of same with the City Clerk.
Section 5. Conflicts. All Ordinances or parts of Ordinances, Resolutions or
parts of Resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby made ineffective to the extent of such
conflict.
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Section 6. Severability. If any clause, section or other part of this Ordinance
shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such
unconstitutional or invalid part shall be considered as eliminated and in no way affecting
the validity of the other provisions of this Ordinance.
Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective
immediately upon its passage and adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this r'O' 'day of rp r,,t4 , , 2018.
APPROVED:
ATTEST: CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA
27/( 41//f,t6:6(---
Melanie Sibbitt, City Clerk Rusty John ayor
(SEAL)
FOR USE AND RELIANCE ONLY BY ADVERTISED /r _�� i� , 2018
THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA; READ FIRST TIME i, , 2018
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND READ SECOND TIME AN• ADOPTED
LEGALITY 1Ihr14vz a4 , 2018
this7.01'tday of d , 2018. UNDER AGENDA ITEM NO. l2
SHUFFIELD, LOWMAN & WILSON, P.A.
By:
City A orn-
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