ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Early voting starts Saturday in the special elections for Florida Senate District 15 and House District 40 after a printing error reached tens of thousands of people in the form of faulty sample ballots.
Senate District 15 is currently vacant and makes up much of Orange County’s northwestern quadrant, while House District 40, represented by Democrat Lavon Bracy Davis, spans from Lake Apopka to I-4 and Colonial Drive to State Road 414.
The state Senate seat was left vacant with the death of Geraldine Thompson in February.
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Bracy Davis is vying for the state Senate seat while RaShon Young, her chief of staff, won his primary in June for the House seat that Bracy Davis is poised to leave.
For the state Senate seat, Bracy Davis is up against Republican Willie J. Montague, a nonprofit founder and community advocate. Young will face write-in candidate Christopher Hall and Republican Tuan Le, the latter an engineer and former congressional candidate.
Thousands of Orange County voters began to receive corrected sample ballots after a significant printing error. The new sample ballots include a Notice of Correction after nearly 89,000 voters received ones with a wrong name for the House District 40 race.
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections’ office accidentally printed the name of Democrat Travaris McCurdy where Young’s should have been. Describing an error that originated in-house, the office said it has since spent thousands of dollars to reprint the sample ballots.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday to Aug. 31, eligible registered voters can cast their ballots at any of the county’s designated early voting locations:
- Supervisor of Elections Office: 119 W Kaley Street, Orlando, FL 32806
- West Oaks Library: 1821 E Silver Star Rd, Ocoee, FL 34761
- Apopka Community Center: 519 S Central Ave, Apopka, FL 32703
- Eatonville Town Hall: 307 E Kennedy Blvd, Eatonville, FL 32751
The special election itself takes place Sept. 2. Regular polling precincts will open at 7 a.m. and run until 7 p.m.
Anyone with a vote-by-mail ballot needs to have it into the supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on Sept. 2.