OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – With Florida’s presidential primary quickly approaching, the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Office is making it easy for people to get registered ahead of the election.
The Supervisor of Election’s Office set up a table on the second floor of the Osceola County Courthouse to give people the opportunity to register to vote while they handle any tasks they need to get done at the courthouse.
Voters had the opportunity to sign up to register to vote, or they could also sign up to receive a vote-by-mail ballot.
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The Supervisor of Elections office is also encouraging people to sign up for BallotTrax, an easy way to keep track of your ballot after it has been cast.
“We have a system called BallotTrax where anyone who votes by mail can sign up for this,” said Kari Ewalt, supervisor of elections administrative services director. “It will notify them that we’ve mailed them a ballot, when we receive their ballot, when their ballot is counted. We’ll also tell them if there’s any issues with their ballot, like if they forgot to sign it, it will send them a text right away and let them know how they can rectify the situation.”
Ewalt said those who are enrolled in BallotTrax vote at a higher rate and have fewer issues with their signatures than other voters do.
March’s election is the Republican Presidential Preference Primary, and only registered Republicans can vote. However, registering to vote carries over to all future elections, including the August Florida Primary, and the November General Election.
“So a primary is deciding who goes on the general election ballot,” Ewalt said. “We have more choices when we vote in a primary. It’s really important to vote in every election that we have so that we’re determining the outcome. It’s a government by and for the people, but it’s really only by the people that vote. So we need everyone to vote.”
The March primary election will take place on March 19. The deadline to register to vote is Feb. 20.
For more information on how to register to vote, click here.
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