Vote By Mail is the most convenient way to vote. You'll receive your ballot in the mail, and can take your time making your voting decisions. We even include I Voted By Mail stickers in every envelope, so you can let your friends know you voted!
For many years now, about a third of our voters have found Vote By Mail to be an easy, reliable method of voting. Here's why you can have confidence in Vote By Mail.
By law, we make special accommodations for military and overseas voters and voters with disabilities.
REQUESTING YOUR BALLOT
The deadline to submit a request for a ballot to be mailed to you is 5 p.m. local time on the 12th day before the election. Any registered voter can submit a request to vote by mail. Whether you plan to be in town or out of town on Election Day, we'll send your ballot wherever you need it to be. Just make sure to let us know if your mailing address changes. We keep the most recent mailing address on file for all of our correspondence with you. Florida law requires us to cancel your Vote By Mail ballot request when any first-class or nonforwardable mail from us is returned as undeliverable.
To Request Vote By Mail for yourself, you must provide:
- Your name and home address
- Your date of birth
- Your mailing address, if different from home address (Ballots cannot be forwarded. Be sure to provide your current mailing address.)
- Your Florida Driver License number, Florida ID number, or the last four digits of your Social Security Number, whichever may be verified in our records
- Your signature (if the request is written)
A voter can designate a member of their immediate family or their legal guardian to request a Vote By Mail ballot on their behalf. Immediate family members include your spouse, and the parent, child, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of you or your spouse.
To Request Vote By Mail for someone else, you must provide:
- The name of the elector for whom the ballot is requested
- The elector's address
- The elector's date of birth
- The elector's Florida Driver License number, the elector's Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of the elector's social security number, whichever may be verified in our records
- The requester's name and address
- The requester's driver license number, identification card number, or the last four digits of the requester's social security number (if available)
- The requester's relationship to the voter
- Requester's signature (if the request is written)
Your Vote By Mail ballot will include instructions on the proper way to mark and return your ballot. Read those instructions carefully. If you are filling out your Vote By Mail ballot and you make a mistake, let us know. Whether voting by mail or at the polling place, voters can receive up to two replacements ballots before their ballot has been cast. Once the ballot has been mailed to our office, dropped in a ballot box, or inserted into a ballot scanning machine, your ballot has been cast and no replacements can be issued.
RETURNING YOUR BALLOT
You must sign the return envelope and we must receive your Vote By Mail ballot no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day for your ballot to count. If you plan to mail your ballot back to us, you should allow at least a week for your ballot to reach our office. Would you rather drop your ballot off in person? No problem! We have secure ballot intake stations in each of our Early Voting locations (during Early Voting hours) and at our five offices (during office hours).
If you change your mind after receiving your ballot and decide you want to vote in person instead, that's okay. We'll cancel your Vote By Mail ballot when you check in to vote in person.
YOUR SIGNATURE
When we receive your ballot, we check your signature against the signature we have on file. If your signature has changed, you can use an online voter registration application to bring your Florida Driver License or Florida ID signature into your voter record, or a paper voter registration application to update your signature. Your signature update must be received before your voted Vote By Mail ballot is received.
If you returned your Vote By Mail ballot but forgot to sign the envelope, or if there is a discrepancy with your signature, you need to complete and return a signature cure affidavit (English/Español) via email, mail, fax or hand delivery so that it is in one of our offices no later than 5 p.m. on the second day following the election. Please follow the instructions on the form carefully, as failure to follow these instructions may cause your ballot not to count.
DESIGNATING SOMEONE TO PICK UP YOUR BALLOT
If you can't get to a voting location, you can designate someone to pick up a Vote By Mail ballot for you. The designation must be authorized in writing. The earliest a designee can pick up your ballot is 9 days before Election Day. A designee is limited to picking up Vote By Mail ballots for two other voters per election, not including their own ballot and the ballots for immediate family members. Immediate family members include the spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the designee or designee's spouse.The designee must present valid ID and submit an affidavit (English PDF/ Español PDF) to pick-up the voter’s blank ballot. This affidavit is a combination form that includes the affidavit for ballot pick-up, the voter's written authorization for the designee and, if a request is not already on record, the voter’s request for a Vote By Mail ballot.
On Election Day, you have to complete this Election Day Vote By Mail Ballot Delivery Affidavit (English PDF/ Español PDF) to affirm that an emergency is keeping you from being able to vote in your assigned polling place.