ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Orange County supervisor of elections reported the office has received less than half of the number of vote-by-mail ballot requests than in past election cycles, attributing it to a fairly recent change in Florida voter laws.
Other counties are also reporting lower numbers.
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As of the morning of July 1, 2024, Supervisor Glen Gilzean says his office has only received 81,479 standing requests for the Aug. 20 primary election and 82,097 for the November general election. This is a drastic drop compared to the 2022 General Election, which had a total of 214,332 requests.
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“This year we have seen a sharp drop in the number of people requesting vote-by-mail ballots and while more people may be opting to vote in person, we want to make sure any voter who wants to vote by mail knows the approaching deadlines for the primary,” said Gilzean in a news release.
Other counties reported similar mail ballot request counts:
- Brevard County reports 62,873 ballot requests so far for the primary; 64,160 for the general election
- Lake County reports 27,000 requests
- Osceola County reports 36,619 requests
- Sumter County reports 29,443 requests
- Volusia County reports 74,500 requests
- Marion County reports 30,371 requests
- Flagler County reports 16,003 requests
Many voters are unaware that they have to submit a new vote-by-mail request, making it a cause for concern. Due to a Florida law change in 2021, all vote-by-mail requests expire after each federal general election. This means that all previous requests expired on Dec. 31, 2022, and voters wishing to continue casting their ballots by mail must submit a new request.
The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is 10 days before an election. This means that the deadline to submit a request for a mailed ballot is Aug. 8 for the Aug. 20 Primary Election and Oct. 24 for the Nov. 5 General Election. These requests can be called in, made in person at the election’s office, mailed, faxed or emailed in.
You must use a special request form, which you can get at the website for your county supervisor of elections office.
These ballots must make it to the county supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day or they will not count. If you have not mailed out your vote-by-mail ballot and Election Day is just a day or two away, it is likely that it will not make it on time.
You can either hand deliver it to the elections office or turn it over at your polling precinct on Election Day and get a regular ballot to fill out instead.
Additionally, the deadline to change political parties or register to vote in Florida for the August Primary Election is July 22.
For more information on how to request a vote-by-mail ballot and the corresponding deadlines, visit the Florida Division of Elections website or ClickOrlando.com’s article on common questions about voting by mail.
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