The Florida Presidential Preference Primary is next week, and several Florida voting rights groups want to make sure voters are up to date on the latest voting laws, some of which have changed recently.
Voters who prefer to vote by mail, for example, should be aware that a 2021 law canceled all standing vote-by-mail requests. Voters need to submit a new request to be able to vote by mail this year. A spokesperson for Common Cause Florida said that more than a million Florida voters who were signed up to vote by mail in 2022 have not submitted new requests.
Every voter can go to their county’s Supervisor of Elections website and check their status. For a list of local county links, see below.
Another change is that now voters must provide ID, so be sure to have a Florida driver’s license, a Florida ID card, or the last 4 digits of your social security number ready when you are registering.
Deadlines have been moved to be slightly earlier. The deadline to register a vote by mail ballot for the Presidential Preference Primary has passed. The deadline for the presidential primary is August 8 and for the general election is October 24.
When turning in ballots, know that that has also been restricted. You may turn in your own ballot, and those of immediate family members, plus 2 additional ballots, but no more. Only one ballot per envelope.
The two most common reasons vote by mail ballots are rejected are that they arrive late and they don’t have a signature.
The group All Voting is Local reminds voters that Florida elections have never been safer or more secure. Although entities in Lee and Collier have asked to hand count ballots, voters should be aware that handcounts are slower and more error-prone than machine counting ballots in an election.
And finally, the Presidential Preference Primary is limited to registered Republicans because the Democratic party has already nominated President Joe Biden as its only candidate.
Lee County Supervisor of Elections
Collier County Supervisor of Elections
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections
Charlotte County Supervisor of Elections
Hendry County Supervisor of Elections
DeSoto County Supervisor of Elections
Glades County Supervisor of Elections
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