Florida House of Representatives
Democratic Leader Kionne L. McGhee

District Office:
Suite 435, Cutler Bay Town Hall Center
10720 Caribbean Boulevard
Cutler Bay, FL 33189-1218
(305) 256-6301

District 117

Tallahassee Office:
316 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717-5117

June 11, 2020
Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
State of Florida, The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL, 32399-0001

Dear Governor DeSantis:
Please see the attached letter to Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney,
Chair of the House Committee on Oversight & Reform, which has
jurisdiction over the US Postal Service. My understanding is that Chair
Maloney plans to hold a hearing in a few weeks addressing what safeguards
the Postal Service will take in October and November to efficiently sort and
deliver the mail during an election amid the coronavirus pandemic. Her
committee plans to initially focus on the Florida postal operations. There are
two facts that we now know about Florida mail and voting, which is the
purpose of my letter.
·
First, in the 2018 election, too many ballots were postmarked
before Election Day, but did not arrive at the Supervisor of Elections
until after the 7:00 pm cutoff time on Election Day, or did not arrive at
all. Far too many votes in Florida were not counted.
·
In March and April of 2020, when the stimulus check program
was approved, Treasury and the US Postal Service implemented a
tracking system within 30 days, so that if the check was mailed, the
recipient could track it online.
The general election on November 3, 2020 could see upwards of 10
million Floridians wanting to cast their ballot. In the coronavirus
environment, we anticipate that a minimum of 50% of Florida voters will
want to vote by mail to protect their safety and others. Therefore, I
Committees:
Appropriations Committee · Joint Legislative Budget Commission

 Florida House of Representatives
Democratic Leader Kionne L. McGhee

District Office:
Suite 435, Cutler Bay Town Hall Center
10720 Caribbean Boulevard
Cutler Bay, FL 33189-1218
(305) 256-6301

District 117

Tallahassee Office:
316 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717-5117

respectfully request that you coordinate with the US Postal Service to
implement a bar-code tracking system for all mail in ballots for the August
primary and the November general election. The voters should be able to
track where their ballot is at any time in the US Postal system, and when it
is delivered to the Supervisor of Elections. The recent stimulus checks
proved that bar-coding and tracking could be implemented quickly and
effectively; I look forward to your response on how this will be done. Let’s
work together to get every Florida vote counted.
Sincerely,

Kionne L. McGhee
Democratic Leader
House District 117
Cc: Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney
Hon. Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General- USPS

Committees:
Appropriations Committee · Joint Legislative Budget Commission