Deadline Jan. 1 for mail-in ballot requests
Four South Florida elections and primaries will be held on Jan. 11
People who want to vote by mail in the four South Florida elections and primaries on Jan. 11 need to request their ballots right away, if they haven’t done so already.
The deadline for requests is 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 1 — several days earlier than what voters have become accustomed to for most of the past 20 years, as voting by mail has grown increasingly popular.
As the mail has slowed in recent years, Florida moved up the request deadline to make sure ballots mailed out by elections offices are received in plenty of time for voters to fill them out and get them back.
Election Day is Jan. 11, and mail ballots must be back in county elections offices by 7 p.m. that day. Postmarks don’t count.
Even though people may still legally request a mail ballot, it may be too late to receive one and get it back on time. In the Nov. 2 congressional primary, a total of 297 mail ballots were postmarked on or before Monday, Nov. 1, but didn’t arrive at the supervisors of elections office until after Election Day, Nov. 2. Under Florida law, they weren’t counted.
All voters in the Broward-Palm Beach County 20th Congressional District can vote in the general election to fill the vacancy created by the April 6 death of Congressman Alcee Hastings.
Three state lawmakers resigned their positions so they could run, unsuccessfully it turned out, to fill the vacancy.
So their jobs are now open. All registered voters in the 94th state House District in Broward are eligible to vote. Since no Republican came forward to run for the post, the Democratic primary is a universal primary open to all registered voters, and the winner will go to Tallahassee.
Democratic primaries are being held in the 33rd state Senate District in Broward and the 88th House District primary in Palm Beach County.
Most people who want to vote by mail have already received ballots automatically if they made requests before the 2020 presidential elections. Earlier requests, made for the 2018 election for governor, have expired.
Information about requesting mail-in ballots, whether a voter lives in one of the districts with an election, the status of a voteby-mail ballot or finding polling locations is available online and by phone.