Happy 4th! You Have 21 Days Left to Fix Your Voter Status
Florida voters face a July 26 registration deadline for primary races. A new website from the Florida Division of Elections allows us to check on our status quickly and easily:
ACTION: Check your voter registration status right now. (Florida Voters only)
Voter roll purges and database cleanups can wipe people off the rolls wrongly. It's important to check your status before the July 26 registration deadline for primary races so that you can fix any problems.
Florida is a closed primary state, so a voter must be registered as a Dem or Republican by July 26 to participate in a party's primary - Independent voters cannot vote for primary candidates in most cases. The one situation in which a party primary is thrown open is when all of the candidates in a race are of the same party and therefore the primry will determine the winner of the general. But that very rarely happens.
Anyway, register by July 26 for the primary and by October 4 for the general election this year.
Absentee / Vote by mail
A few years ago, with paperless touchscreen machines the norm in Florida, voting absentee was the preferred method for those who were concerned about a paper trail. But the paper trail problem was fixed when Florida mandated a scanned paper system for all ballots cast.
That's good news and that means that you can vote early in person with a paper trail and not have to worry about your absentee ballot being disqualified or lost in the mail. Now if you still prefer to vote absentee, you can request ballots for the upcoming elections via this link, and you don't have to be out of the country or anything on election day - you can use absentee voting as a convenient vote by mail system if you like - but early voting is how I roll.
Early voting in Florida begins 15 days before the election and ends the second day before the election. County Elections Supervisors are required to have their offices open for early voting and may optionally utilize libraries and city halls as additional early voting sites.
Voters may vote in person by casting a ballot prior to election day. The voter will use the same type of voting equipment that is used at the polls on election day. Early voting begins 15 days before an election and ends on the 2nd day before an election. During this period, early voting is conducted 8 hours per day on each weekday and for 8 hours in the aggregate for each weekend. Supervisors of Elections designate early voting sites 30 days prior to an election. Early voting will be offered in the main or branch office of the Supervisor of Elections. They may also designate any city hall or public library geographically located so that all voters in the county will have an equal opportunity to cast a vote. Contact your Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations in your county.
When you sign in at an Early Voting location, your custom ballot based on your precinct will be printed for you, you will fill in the bubbles - like on a multiple choice test - with your voting preferences, and your ballot will be scanned with the results saved for future tabulation. Best of all, your ballot is securely stored for use in a real paper recount should one become necessary.
You can find your early voting locations at this link (PDF) or at your local County Elections site.
And, of course, you can still vote the traditional way on Tuesday, August 24 in person at your precinct. However, if you experience any problems or snafus, you will be up against a hard deadline to get things straightened out, and your vote may not count in the end. And if you've already voted early, you can spend the traditional election day getting out the vote for your favorite candidates.
Check your status.
Vote Early.
Volunteer - with Florida Dems or your favorite candidate.