The following letter (updated for each location) was sent to the Polk County SOE Edwards, Osceola County SOE Arrington, St. Lucia SOE Walker, Collier County SOE Blazier, Orange County SOE Glitzean, Hillsborough County SOE Latimer, Lee County SOE Doyle, and the Palm Beach County SOE Link.

July 16, 2024

Dear Supervisor Edwards,

On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, a new uniform vote-by-mail request form (DS-DE 160) for the state of Florida went into effect, and the state has made it available in English and Spanish. However, we would like to call attention to the need for broader resources to assist voters whose primary language is not English during the electoral process; in particular, we would like to call attention to the needs of Haitian voters, which in Polk County, we have estimated the number to be at least 4,197 voters, based on the latest Target Smart¹ data by way of Civis Analytics.²

Currently, only the county of Miami-Dade has a local ordinance that requires electoral materials to be available in Haitian Creole. As such, the county has made available a new vote-by-mail request form in the language. Broward County has also voluntarily adopted a similar form. Given the growth of Haitian voters in your county, we kindly ask that your office accept vote-by-mail requests that are made using the Haitian Creole translated version of the form, make printed forms available at the SOE main and branch offices, and establish procedures to ensure voters know how to obtain the form and that the requests are processed.

As voting and civil rights organizations, we believe that every eligible voter should have equitable access to the polls, regardless of the primary languages they speak. Voters should not face an uphill battle to obtain the voting materials they need to safely and efficiently cast their ballot confidently. Because Florida’s language access landscape when it comes to voting does not take into account the growing communities that have yet to meet the threshold set forth by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA),³ or that are not contemplated by the VRA or other regulations,⁴ your office is best positioned to understand and provide for the needs of their local communities.

We’ve estimated that between precincts number 8665, 8664, 1542, 2427, and 1537, there are over 3,130 Haitian voters who would benefit from additional assistance. Additional precincts also have notable Haitian voter populations and we would be more than happy to provide that information. While these numbers do not reflect the entirety of the population, they do provide a fair picture of where there are needs that could be met with action from your office.

To address the needs of this growing community, we encourage you to offer the following resources in the precinct(s) listed above:

1. Sample ballots in Haitian Creole with the appropriate signage indicating how to request them.

2. Polling places signage and other voter-facing materials in Haitian Creole.

3. Haitian Creole-speaking poll workers or a live county-specific hotline to assist voters during voting periods, with appropriate signage indicating instructions to use it.

4. Enhanced poll worker training for language access specific to the Haitian community.

Furthermore, we further urge you to consider these additional considerations:

1. Signage in Haitian Creole at your main and branch offices informing voters of the availability of election materials and the hotline.

2. Translation of the Supervisor of Elections website, as well as other voter-facing materials.

3. Promote voter-facing information to Haitian-Creole media throughout the county so voters have accurate and updated information about elections and how to vote.

We hope you consider our suggestions, and we look forward to seeing what tools and resources your office can develop to assist the growing Haitian community in the county.

Cordially,

Ricardo Negron-Almodovar Senior FL Campaign Manager All Voting is Local Action	Juanica Fernandes Executive Director State Voices Florida	Rebecca Pelham Executive Director Engage Miami
Debbie Chandler, Esq. Cecile M. Scoon, Esq. Co-Presidents League of Women Voters of Florida	Adora Obi Nweze President NAACP Florida State Conference	Gepsie M. Metellus Executive Director Sant La, Haitian Neighborhood Center, Inc.
Tessa Petit Executive Director Florida Immigrant Coalition	Amy Keith Executive Director Common Cause Florida	Cecilia Gonzalez Advocacy Coordinator for Voting Rights LatinoJustice PRLDEF

¹ https://targetsmart.com/about-targetsmart/

²Predicted number of Haitian voters by county and precinct according to Civis Analytics’ predictive models

³ 52 USC 10503: Bilingual election requirements https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:10503%20edition:prelim)

⁴Language Assistance for Florida Voters https://allvotingislocal.org/wp-content/uploads/All-Voting_-Language-Assistance-for-Florida-Voters-APRIL-2024.pdf