Time running out for voting by mail

MIAMI: If President Donald Trump plans to vote by mail in the general election as he did in Florida’s August primary, he will need to act fast.

Neither the president nor first lady Melania Trump have requested a mail ballot, the Palm Beach County elections website showed, and they only had until Saturday to request one.

Trump spent months criticising the legitimacy of mail voting — even as states expanded voting by mail during the Covid19 pandemic — before reversing course earlier in the northern summer when he tweeted an endorsement of the process, calling Florida’s vote by mail system ‘‘tried and true’’.

If the Trumps plan to vote by mail, the way 226,523 of their fellow Palm Beach County residents already have, they must request a mail ballot 10 days before Election Day — and that means by October 24. If the Trumps miss the deadline and would still like to vote by mail, they would have to visit one of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of

Elections’ offices to get a ballot printed. The last day supervisors can send out mail ballots to those who request them is October 24. Requests for mail ballots made online, by phone or in person are processed instantly.

The Trumps also have the option to vote in person. Their Election Day voting location is the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Centre in Palm Beach. Or, during early voting, they could cast their ballots at various locations in Palm Beach County.

Their ballots will include four judicial retention questions, six constitutional amendment ballot questions and 14 races — including, of course, the presidency.

If requested in time, the Trumps’ ballots would have to be returned to the Palm Beach County’s elections office by 7pm on Election Day, when all mailin ballots must be submitted. The Palm Beach County supervisor’s office recommends voters allow at least one week for the ballot to reach their office.

More than 2.5 million Floridians have voted by mail this year so far. Another 3.2 million mail ballots had been requested but not yet returned. About 1.2 million Democrats and 757,696 Republicans already voted by mail. Another 1.3 million Democrats and 1 million Republicans had requested ballots.

Mr Trump’s campaign this month launched social media ads encouraging supporters to vote by mail, which he tweeted was ‘‘safe and secure’’.

The advertisements, run throughout the month of October, according to Facebook’s ad library, appear on Facebook in Florida and in North Carolina and say ‘‘VOTE LIKE PRESIDENT TRUMP!’’ with text: ‘‘TIME IS RUNNING OUT! Request your ballot today.’’

The Trumps have voted by mail in Florida in the March presidential primary and the August primary. In August, the Trumps’ ballots were dropped off in person. — Miami Herald/TCA