South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Voters set to fill Hastings’ House seat
How, where to vote in Palm Beach and Broward counties
Tuesday is an unusual January Election Day in parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
In the marquee contest, voters will decide who to send to Washington, D.C., as the region’s next member of Congress. The winner will fill the remainder of the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ term, serving until early January 2023.
There are also contests for the state Legislature in three South Florida districts.
US House
The special general election in the 20th Congressional District, which stretches from Miramar in southwest Broward to Riviera Beach in northeastern Palm Beach County, is open to all registered voters in the district.
Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick, Republican Jason Mariner, Libertarian Mike ter Maat and two no party affiliation/independent candidates, Jim Flynn and Leonard Serratore, are on the ballot.
Legislature
Three state legislative seats are open because those who held them resigned to run in the Democratic primary for the congressional seat, which they lost. It’s all part of the political ripple effect of Hastings’ April 6 death. The state requires lawmakers to submit irrevocable resignations in order to run for another office.
Candidates in the 33rd state Senate District Democratic primary in Broward are Rosalind Osgood and Terry Ann Williams Edden.
Candidates in the 88th House District in Palm Beach County are Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds and Clarence “Chief ” Williams.
Florida has closed primaries, which means only people who are registered in one of the parties may vote.
In the third legislative contest, only Democrats signed up to run. Since no Republican entered the race, it’s a universal primary, open to all registered voters in District 94.
The candidates are Daryl Campbell, Josephus “JoJo” Eggelletion III, Rod Kemp and Elijah Manley.
When and where
On Tuesday, neighborhood polling places open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. People who arrive on time and are in line before the polls close will be allowed to vote, as long as they stay in line.
Unlike early voting, people must vote in their neighborhood polling places on Election Day.
What to bring
The most important thing is having photo identification that includes a signature.
A driver’s license or state-issued identification card is best, but other accepted forms include passports, debit or credit cards, and identification ID for members of the military, students, retirement centers, neighborhood associations, public assistance, Veterans Affairs health care and government employees.
If the photo ID doesn’t include a signature, another piece of identification with a signature is required. A voter identification card,
often referred to as a voter registration card, isn’t required.
You can wear election buttons, T-shirts and other indications of support for a candidate when you go to vote. Campaign attire doesn’t count as illegal electioneering at the polls.
You may take a picture of your ballot.
Early voting
In-person early voting at regional sites in both counties continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
The rules are largely the same as Election Day voting, with one big difference: during in-person early voting people may go to any voting center in the county in which they live.
Broward County has six early voting sites, in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Miramar, Lauderhill, Tamarac and Wilton Manors. Palm Beach County has seven sites, in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Belle Glade, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves.
Mail ballots
It’s too late to return a mail ballot via the mail. They’re due at each county’s Supervisor of Elections Office headquarters by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks don’t count.
Mail service has slowed in the last two years, causing some voters to miscalculate and have their ballots arrive too late.
In the Nov. 2 special congressional primary, a total of 297 mail ballots were postmarked on or before Monday, Nov. 1 — far more than the five votes that separated winner Cherfilus-McCormick from second-place finisher Dale Holness. Under Florida law, they weren’t counted.
Mail ballots cannot be dropped off at polling places on Election Day, though they can be brought to supervisor of elections offices.
People can still return mail ballots in two ways:
All early voting sites in both counties allow people to drop off their mail ballots during early voting hours.
Broward and Palm Beach counties also offer secure drop boxes with varying hours.
Anyone who has received a mail ballot but wants to vote in person can do so at an early voting center before Monday, or a neighborhood polling place on Tuesday.
Why now?
It’s an unusual time for an election. The Constitution requires special elections to fill congressional vacancies, and Florida requires special elections to fill vacancies in the state Legislature. Florida law also gives date-setting authority to the governor, but doesn’t impose any deadline.
Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to keep the posts open for far longer than recent vacancies. Democrats claim the Republican governor did so to keep one Democratic vote out of the U.S. House to make it harder for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass legislation, and to keep three Democratic votes out of the state Legislature for the 2022 annual legislative session, which starts Tuesday.
The special general election for the legislative seats isn’t until March 8, so the results won’t be certified before the session’s scheduled March 11 adjournment.
Information
People can check online and by phone regarding the following: to see if they’re registered to vote; to see if they live in one of the districts with an election; to check on the status of their mail ballots; to ask where to return a mail ballot; and to find out where to vote in person.