In Collier County, the Supervisor of Elections office began sending out vote-by-mail ballots last week for the Presidential Preference Primary Election taking place March 17.
WGCU’s Andrea Perdomo spoke with Jennifer Edwards, who has been supervising elections in Collier for 20 years, about some vote by mail FAQ’s.
Perdomo:
For people who are voting by mail, is there a recommendation by when they should have it sent in?
Edwards:
Yes, actually the United States Post Office recommends that the voter mail their ballot at least a week before election day to ensure it will be delivered by seven o'clock pm Election Day.
Perdomo:
And can vote by mail ballots be dropped off at voting locations?
Edwards:
Yes. Now vote by mail ballots may be dropped at early voting locations. So we have nine early voting locations across the county. And those are listed on our website, colliervotes.com. But that is a convenience that's available now to the voters--drop your ballots off at our early voting locations.
Perdomo:
What are some things that people should be mindful of when they are planning to vote by mail?
Edwards:
Well, of course, they must sign the back of the return envelope. A new state laws requesting their email address and their cell or telephone number. And if a voter does not want that information to be seen, through the mail process, they can always place that envelope in another larger envelope and mail it to us, or drop them all here at our office, or they can drop them off at any of the early voting locations.
Perdomo:
Signatures are a big thing, you know, they can change over time. Is there a way for people to verify their signatures online, or, what should they do in order to verify their signature?
Edwards:
To verify their signatures they'll need to come into our office. when we do mailings, we’ll include information encouraging people to face their signature. And also, there's now the opportunity in the law for a voter whose signature doesn't match, or they've failed to sign the envelope, we have a cure process, so we immediately reach out to that voter and guide them through a process.
Perdomo:
And are vote by mail ballots tabulated as they come in?
Edwards: They are tabulated, beginning a certain day--it's approximately 20 days before the election. The law allows us to begin opening and tabulating mail ballots, and we tabulate almost daily up to election day.
Perdomo:
Can a person request a vote by mail ballot and then decide to vote in person?
Edwards:
Of course, and we encourage the voter to take their mail ballot with them. But if they fail to, they'll still be able to vote. Once we look a voter up, we know they requested a mail ballot, but we also know that it has not been returned. So we can allow them to vote at the polling location.
