Prepare now to vote by mail in this year's elections to ensure COVID-19 doesn't block your vote.
In light of the pandemic and past issues with rejected vote-by-mail ballots, you may be understandably wary of voting by mail. Follow these steps to ensure your vote counts this August and November.
Follow these steps to ensure your vote counts this August and November.
When you vote by mail, a lay person will compare your signature on the outside of the ballot certificate envelope to the signature on file with the elections office. To make sure these signatures match, update your voter registration using one of the following methods. Likewise, if there is an issue with your ballot, the supervisor of elections will try to contact you using the contact information on record, so update your voter registration using one of the following methods. The form is the same as a new voter registration form, you will check "Record Update/Change."
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Update your Signature and Contact Information by July 20.
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Print and complete the voter registration form, sign it, and mail or deliver it to your SOE's office. En Espanol
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Contact your local Supervisor of Elections. Click this link to find your SOE office
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Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot by 5 pm August 8.
Requests to vote by mail are only good for up to two general elections, so you may need to request it this year, even if you've voted by mail in the past. Request a vote-by-mail ballot using one of the following methods. You should make this request as soon as possible to avoid contributing to last minute demand.- If you are able, complete the online application on your supervisor of elections' website. This will free up staff to help those who need more assistance.
- Request in person at the supervisor of elections' office.
- Request by calling your supervisor of elections.
- Request in writing, through email, fax or mailing your supervisor of elections' office.
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Receive your ballot: You can pick up your vote-by-mail ballot once ballots are printed, or it will be mailed to you beginning July 9. If you need someone else to pick up your ballot, you can designate someone in writing.
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Return your ballot by 7 pm Election Day: You can mail your ballot or drop it off in person at the supervisor of elections office, any early voting site or other designated drop sites. Your vote-by-mail ballot will list the drop off sites.
Voters who have requested to vote by mail can still choose to vote in person after requesting a vote-by-mail ballot. To avoid issues, bring the mail ballot to the polling location. If it’s been misplaced, contact your supervisor of elections office.
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Track Your Ballot: Visit your Supervisor of Elections' website or the State's Voter Information Lookup site to track your ballot to make sure it was received. If you can't track your ballot on their website within 3 days of mailing your VBM ballot, you should contact your SOE to confirm that your ballot was received.
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If Your Ballot Is Rejected: If your VBM ballot was not accepted, the SOE is required by law to notify you, tell you why it was rejected and give you an opportunity to correct any issues to "cure" your ballot and have it counted.
You Have a Right to Remedy Your Ballot: If your VBM ballot is rejected or you are required to cast a provisional ballot, your supervisor of elections is required by law to allow you to cure the ballot by submitting a Vote-by-Mail Ballot Cure Affidavit and a copy of your ID. You have to submit this by 5 p.m. two days after the election.
Download our VBM in Florida one pager.
New report: "Let Florida Vote: Coronavirus is only the newest barrier to voting in Florida”
In our new report "Let Florida Vote: Coronavirus is only the newest barrier to voting in Florida,” we found that vote-by-mail ballots cast in the 2018 general election had a higher rejection rate than votes cast at assigned precincts on Election Day and at early voting sites. We also found that younger voters and racial and ethnic minority voters were much more likely to cast mail ballots that were rejected and were less likely to have their ballots cured.
