In Florida, all residents have the right to vote by mail if they so choose.
No doubt about it either, voting by mail is popular in our state. In 2022, 2.7 million people voted by mail compared to a near equal amount of people voting in person the day of the election.
However, here in August of 2023 many counties, including Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, Pasco and Orange, are reporting having received far less mail-in ballot requests than is usual for this time of year.
Local election supervisors, like Joyce Griffin in Monroe County, are worried about getting out the word that people will need to make a new ballot request this year.
In her county, as of this month, she has received 7,280 requests, whereas in 2020 she had a total of 11,831 requests.
"This means 4,551 voters will be very upset with me when they don’t receive their vote-by-mail ballot. ... Please help us get the message out; the law changed and every voter who wants a vote-by-mail ballot must request each election cycle. Request now for all of 2024."
As Griffin said in an interview with Key West Citizen reporter Timothy O'Hara.
How The Law Has Changed
In 2021 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law controversial new legislation designed to make elections more secure. Although there's been much debate and a few lawsuits over the efficacy and reasoning behind Senate Bill 90, the fact remains that the law has ultimately stood and must be followed.
Important to note are the new requirements for mail-in voters. Ballots must now be requested once for each new election cycle. This means that a new request will need to be submitted once every two years.
Previously, requests for ballots would have needed to be done only once for every two elections cycles or every four years.
How to Look Up Your Current Vote-by-Mail Status
Look up your vote-by-mail status by heading to the "Vote-by-Mail Ballot Information and Status Lookup" webpage. Choose which county you will be voting in and on the next page enter the requested information.
If you've already requested a mail-in ballot for this cycle, there should be information listed there. If you haven't yet made your request, there will be a notice letting you know that they could not find your information.
Thus, a new request will need to be made.
How to Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot
According to the Florida Division of Elections website, a mail-in ballot request can be made in one of three ways:
- By signed writing (e.g., mail, fax, or scanned attachment to an email) to the Supervisor of Elections
- In person at the Supervisor of Elections' office
- By phone to the Supervisor of Elections
Information needed to request a ballot include name, date of birth, address and one of the following identifiers: Florida driver license, Florida identification card or the last four digits of the elector’s social security number.
Contact Information for Your County
To request a mail-in ballot in The Sunshine State, you will need to make contact with your local county elections office. For a handy resource containing information on all the counties in Florida, head to: Find your County.
Clicking on the link for a specific county will pull up helpful information including the name of the county election supervisor, office address, phone number, web address and other related details.
Clicking a web address for a specific county will pull up additional information. Note that this may vary slightly depending on which county you are voting in, although all seem to have common details, such as how to register to vote, polling locations, names of elected officials as well as instructions on how to request a mail-in ballot.
Additional important notes:
- Once you receive your ballot, it will include instructions on how to complete it.
- The general deadline to request a ballot to be mailed is no later than 5pm on the 10th day before an election. However, I have noticed that this may vary depending on the county.
- Any voter can designate an immediate family member or legal guardian to request a ballot on their behalf.
Full information on voting by mail in Florida can be obtained here.
Submitting Ballots and Ballot Boxes
Ballots can simply be mailed. No witness is needed.
Or it can be dropped off to a Supervisor of Elections office or ballot box.
Per the passing of SB 90, hours ballot boxes will be accessible for drop-off have been limited, whereas before the boxes were available 24/7. Also, they will only be accessible during early voting times and must be monitored at all times by an employee from the Supervisor of Elections office for the specific county.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, exact locations of ballot boxes and hours they will be available are required to be reported by counties no later than 30 days prior to any election.
Deadlines for receiving mailed ballots may vary slightly depending on the county so it's always a good idea to check with your local Supervisor of Elections office website prior to an election to see if anything has been changed.
More Helpful Info
If you still need to register to vote, head here: Register to vote in Florida.
If you're registered and would like to check your status, address and other details, you can do so here: Voter Information Lookup.
Even though there has been much squabbling between political parties over SB 90, I did manage to find this helpful article from Daytona Beach News-Journal writer Mark Harper, which provides a great overview of the law changes sans political leaning.
What do you think of these new requirements? As always, your comments and questions are welcome.