Apopka voters can still request a mail ballot for the December 8 runoff election between Diane Velazquez and Yesenia “Jesi” Baron for Seat 2 on the Apopka City Council.
Bill Cowles, Orange County supervisor of elections, said that Apopka voters who had requested mail ballots for the November 3 General Election should have already received their ballots in the mail, but that registered voters who cast their ballot early, in-person, or didn’t vote at all during the General Election may request a vote-by-mail ballot for the city runoff election before Saturday, November 28, at 5 p.m.
Voters may request the mail-in ballots by visiting www.ocfelections.com, by calling Cowles’ office at 407-836-2070, or by visiting the elections office at 119 W. Kaley St., Orlando.
Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote for Seat 2 on the Apopka City Council, there will be a runoff election on December 8 between Baron and Velazquez.
Cowles said 10,425 mail ballots went out, as well as 162 city runoff ballots for members of the military.
Early voting for the December 8 runoff will be held for five days only – November 30 through December 4 – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day only at the Orange County supervisor of elections office at 119 W. Kaley St., Orlando. There will be no early-voting site in Apopka.
On December 8, voting for the Seat 2 runoff between Velazquez and Baron will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the two municipal precincts, one at the Apopka Community Center/VFW, 519 S. Central Avenue, and one at the city of Apopka recreation offices at the Northwest Recreation Complex, 3710 Jason Dwelley Parkway. Voters must cast their ballot in their assigned precinct.
Voters will receive a sample ballot of the Seat 2 runoff election on a large green postcard from Cowles’ office that will include to which precinct the voter is assigned. The card will be mailed Tuesday, November 24, Cowles said.
During the General Election, Velazquez was the top vote-getter with 10,366 votes or 42.46 percent, while Baron received 6,202 votes or 25.40. Gene Knight and Nick Nesta finished out of the running for Seat 2 during the General Election. Knight had 4,037 votes, 16.53 percent, while Nesta received 3,811 votes, 15.61 percent.
Nearly 70 percent of eligible voters in the city election cast a vote for one of the four candidates.
The special city election came about after former City Commissioner Alice Nolan served a little more than two years of her first four-year term in Seat 2 when she vacated it due to her diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer.
The winner of the runoff election between Velazquez and Baron will complete Nolan’s original term that will end in April 2022.
For more information about voting in the Seat 2 runoff election, visit www.ocfelections.com or call 407-836-2070.
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are independently-owned and family-operated newspapers that have served the Apopka area since 1923 and 1965, respectively. The Apopka Chief is a subscription-based publication that is delivered each Friday by U.S. Mail, and The Planter is a free publication that is published each Thursday.
