Preparations underway for Orlando special election to fill Regina Hill's city commission seat

by Senait Gebregiorgis

 Orange County, FL, USA —

Some Orlando voters will soon take their pick in a special election since a city commissioner has been forced to give up her chair. 

Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Regina Hill from serving district five as city commissioner Monday.

Hill is facing criminal charges for allegedly taking advantage of a 96-year-old woman.

Orlando City Council set May 21 as a potential date for the special election.

"Orange County is used to special elections. We just did one for our HD 35, and that was more on the eastern side of the county. So our office is prepared," Glen Gilzean said who is the Orange County Supervisor of Elections.

Gilzean said as soon as the council finalizes a date, his office will have a better count on how many people it will need to staff and how much the election will cost. 

"The city will actually reimburse us back for those funds, but right now, we're in the middle of a negotiation," Gilzean said.

Only voters living in district 5 are eligible to cast a ballot. If they want to vote by mail, they have to send in a request as soon as possible.

"Please go log on and register as quickly as you can for this particular election," Gilzean said. "So then that way they would be able to get that in an ample mail time."

Gilzean said the district has just under 21,000 eligible voters. They will have five polling places.

"I think that community is going to like step up. So, I think there's going to be a high turnout, but we're ready for whatever the turnout is," Gilzean said.

Orlando City Council will hold a special meeting Apr. 8 to finalize a date for the special election.

As soon as the date is set, qualified candidates can file to run.

Full Article & Source:
Preparations underway for Orlando special election to fill Regina Hill's city commission seat 

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