Kathy Dent, Supervisor of Elections, Sarasota County, Florida

Kathy Dent was elected Supervisor of Elections in Sarasota County, Florida, on November 7, 2000.  One of her first duties in office was to buy a new voting system, either precinct-count optical scan or DRE, pursuant to Florida’s Election Reform Act of 2001.  She selected a touch screen system with audio accessibility for the blind and visually impaired and the ability to program the ballot in alternative languages.  She is a CERA graduate of the Election Center, served on the 2005 Election Center Task Force on Election Reform, and is the secretary of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.  Ms. Dent has received local, state and national awards as a result of her efforts to make voting easy and accessible for the disability community.