Group: Mail your ballot now
Don’t wait any longer to get your ballot in the mail, the League of Women Voters of Florida is recommending.
Thegroupis encouraging voters to mail their ballots by Tuesday to ensure they have plentyof time tofixany problems that may arise, President Patricia Brigham said.
At the very least, mail your ballot at least two weeks before Election Day, which would fall on Oct. 20, Brigham said.
Mail ballotsneedto arriveby 7p.m. Nov. 3 tobe counted. Overseas votershave until Nov. 13.
Guidance from the U.S. Postal Service gives voters more time to return their ballot. The Postal Service advises voters to mail their ballot at least a week before ElectionDay.
Election officials, though, encourage voters to mail their ballots as soon as they can.
“The sooner people mail back their ballots, the easier Election Day will go,” said Steve Vancore, a spokesman for the BrowardCounty Supervisor of Elections.
You don’t have to rely on the Postal Service. You can also drop your ballot in a secureboxat county electionoffices. Once in-person early voting kicks off on Oct. 19 in South Florida, you will also be able to drop off your mail ballot at early-voting sites.
Here aresometips election officialsand the League ofWomen Voters offered to
voters.
Make sure you sign your ballot. Don’t let your spouse do it for you. You maywant to consider updating your signature on file with the elections office if you registered to vote many years ago. Signatures change over time, and if it doesn’t match the one on file, the ballot may not be counted. “Please sign the back of the ballot,” said Roberto Rodriguez, a spokesmanfor theMiami-Dade Supervisor of Elections. “One of the top reasons ballots are rejected is because voters forget to sign the back of the envelope. That is very important.”
Track your ballot online to make sure it has been received. You can do this online at your county election supervisor’swebsite.
Although it’s optional, providing your email address and cellphone number will help election officials reach you if there is a problem with your ballot. Voters have until 5 p.m. Nov. 5 to fix a missing or mismatched signature on their ballot by submitting a “cure affidavit.”
You can drop off your ballot at early-voting sites, but you have to wait until early voting starts in South Florida on Oct. 19. Don’t leave your ballot in a library dropbox or leave it at an early-voting location before the polls open. Browardhas 22 early-voting locations, Miami-Dade has 33 and Palm Beach County has 18. All counties’ sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 1, the Sunday beforeElectionDay.
Polling places will not accept mail ballots on Election Day, although you can drop your ballot off at your county’s elections office.
If youmail your ballot but it isn’t listed as received by Election Day, you can vote in-person at your assigned polling location. Election officials will allow you to vote using a normal ballot if they don’t show receipt of the mail ballot. If the mail ballot arrives later in the day, the one you filled out in person will count, Rodriguez said.
Election officials and the Postal Service say they are taking “extraordinary measures” to ensure mail ballots are delivered promptly. Here are some highlights.
Starting on Oct. 31 in Broward County, mail ballots thatwouldhave gone througha large sorting facility in Opa-locka in northern Miami-Dade County will instead be picked up from local post offices, ameasure intended to streamline the process and speed delivery.
Miami-Dade County election officials will make three trips on Election Day to the main post office near the Miami International Airport to pick up mail ballots, including afinal visit right before the polls close at 7 p.m.
The more ballots that are received at the last minute, the longer it will take to count, Rodriguez said. During the Aug. 18 primary, about 20,000 mail ballots were dropped off or picked up on Election Day in Miami-Dade County. It took until about 2-2:30 a.m to count those ballots, Rodriguez said.
Florida law allows election offices to start processing mail ballots as they arrive beforeElectionDay.
Florida voters have already been returningmail ballots in large numbers.
As ofMonday, more than 1.6 million Floridians had already returned their mail ballots.
Information
Broward: browardsoe. org or 954-357-7050.
Miami-Dade: miamidade. or 305-499-8683
Palm Beach: pbcelections. or 561-656-6200.