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RESOLUTION NO. ___ _
A Resolution relating to elections; in order to allocate monies in the fiscal year
budget 2013-2014 for absentee ballot return postage for the city's general election
scheduled for February 11,2014.
WHEREAS, the County adopted Resolution R-729-12 dated September 18, 2012 to provide
postage pre-paid return envelope for all absentee ballots in all county-wide elections in Miami-Dade
County; and
WHEREAS, the County is asking the individual municipalities whether they will pay for their
own absentee ballot return postage when conducting their standalone municipal election; and
WHEREAS, the County needs this information in order to properly prepare to have sufficient
return postage envelops printed and in stock; and
WHEREAS, some municipalities have passed resolutions or just approved payment, while others
have opted to not pay for return postage; and
WHEREAS, as per the Miami-Dade County Department of Elections, there are 931 absentee
ballot annual requests on file for South Miami, and the estimated postage per envelope returned is
approximately sixty cents each.
WHEREAS, the City Commission at its meeting of January 8, 2013 provided direction to staffto
reply to the County of its consent to pay for absentee ballot return postage for the city's general election.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section 1. The City Commission hereby authorizes the City Manager to allocate monies in
the fiscal year budget 2013-2014 for absentee ballot return postage for the city's general election
scheduled for February 11,2014.
Section 2. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM:
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND
EXECUTION THEREOF
CITY ATTORNEY
DAY OF ____ , 2013
APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Liebman:
Commissioner Newman:
Commissioner Harris:
Commissioner Welsh:
Amended
Approved __________ ---:M"-'-=a'./-y"'-"OI Agenda Item No. 11(A)(1)
Veto 9-18-12
Override
RESOLUTION NO. R-739-12 ---------------------
RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR
COUNTY MAYOR'S DESIGNEE TO PROVIDE PRE-PAID
RETURN ENVELOPES FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County recently has experienced examples of alleged absentee
ballot fraud; and
WHEREAS, absentee ballot fraud is typically associated with ballot brokers who seek to
influence absentee voters by, among other methods, offering to pay the cost of postage for the
return of absentee ballots to the Supervisor of Elections; and
WHEREAS, providing postage pre-paid return envelopes for absentee ballots will
decrease the ability of ballot brokers to illegally influence voters in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, the right to vote is a fundamental right in a democracy and should not be
impeded by the payment of any costs such as postage; and
WHEREAS, the cost for providing pre-paid return envelopes would not exceed one
hundred and seventy thousand dollars ($170,000.00) in any county-wide election,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. It shall be the policy of this Board to provide postage pre-paid retum
envelopes for all absentee ballots sent out by the Supervisor of Elections. The County Mayor or
County Mayor's designee is hereby directed to provide postage pre-paid return envelopes for
domestic absentee voters in all county-wide elections in Miami-Dade County commencing with
the November 6, 2012 general election.
Amended
Agenda Item No. 11(A)(1)
Page No. 2
Section 2. In the event that there are insufficient funds in the budget for the
Department of Elections, the County Mayor or County Mayor's designee is directed to provide
the necessary funding to the Department of Elections for all costs of providing pre-paid return
envelopes for domestic absentee ballots through the mid-year budget amendment.
The Prime Sponsor of the foregoing resolution is Commissioner Esteban L. Bovo, Jr.
and the Co-Sponsors are Vice Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson and Commissioner Rebeca
Sosa. It was offered by Commissioner , who moved its
adoption. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
being put to a vote, the vote was as follows:
Joe A. Martinez, Chairman
Audrey M. Edmonson, Vice Chairwoman
Bruno A. Barreiro aye Lynda Bell
Esteban L. Bovo, Jr. aye Jose "Pepe" Diaz
Sally A. Heyman aye Barbara J. Jordan
Jean Monestime aye Dennis C. Moss
Rebeca Sosa aye Sen. Javier D. Souto
Xavier L. Suarez aye
absent
aye
absent
aye
aye
absent
aye
and upon
The Chairperson thereupon declared the resolution duly passed and adopted this 18 th day
of September, 2012. This resolution shall become effective ten (10) days after the date of its
adoption unless vetoed by the Mayor, and if vetoed, shall become effective only upon an
override by this Board.
Approved by County Attorney as
to form and legal sufficiency.
Oren Rosenthal
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
BY ITS BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
HARVEY RUVIN, CLERK
By:Ch##QPfifiiAilrippit
Deputy Clerk
Menendez. Maria M.
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Reyes, Zeida (Elections) [zeidar@miamidade.gov]
Thursday, January 03, 2013 11 :38 AM
Menendez, Maria M.
White, Christina (Elections); Innocent, Vanessa (Elections)
RE: Election 2014
"The estimated postage per envelope returned is approximately 60e each. As of today, there are 931 Absentee Ba"ot
Annual Requests on file for South Miami, plus any others that may request an absentee ballot for your election. Please
advise whether your municipality wi" pay for return postage for your standalone municipal elections. For countywide
elections, the County wi" pay for a" return postage. We need this information in order to properly prepare to have
sufficient return postage envelopes printed and in stock. For your information, some municipalities have passed
resolutions or just approved payment, while others have opted to not pay for return postage.
Should you require additional information, please contact me.
Zeida E. Reyes
Elections Coordination Manager
Election Coordination, Campaigns and Compliance Division
Miami-Dade County Elections Department
305-499-8405 Phone 305-499-8547 Fax
zeidar@miamidade.gov
www.miamidade.gov/elections
"Delivering Excellence Every Day"
"Con Exceiencia, Dia Tras Dia"
"Livre Bon Kalite Sevis Chak Jou"
Miami-Dade County is a pu~lic entity subject to Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes concerning public records. E-mail messages are covered under such laws and
thus subject to disclosure. ,T., "