Vote-by-mail ballots are heading to voters next week, says Leon Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley. The Office is expected to send more than 33,000 ballots to Leon County voters. Some 700 ballots have already been sent to overseas and military voters.
The county is also paying for postage and voters won’t need to supply their own to return their ballots.
It’s not too late to request a mail-in ballot—the deadline to make a request is August 8th, 12 days before Election Day. Those requests can be made by calling the Leon County Elections office or going to LeonVotes.gov.
In order for mail-in-ballots to county, they must be returned no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, August 20th. Earley, however, suggests not waiting until the deadline given the ongoing problems with mail delivery in Leon County.
After months of complaints about slow mail delivery and missing/stolen mail, an audit of Leon County's mail services found a lack of oversight, safety concerns and staffing issues. The audits were conducted at the request of U.S Representative Neal Dunn.
“The Inspector General has confirmed what the people of North Florida already know, their regional USPS service is unreliable and does not meet the national standard,” said Dunn in a statement issued in June.
To ensure ballots arrive in time to be counted, Earley recommends mailing them "the earlier, the better," preferably, by August 13th or 14th.
If later than that, Earley says to use one of the Supervisor of Elections' secure ballot intake stations and drop boxes. Ballots can also be tracked at leonvotes.gov/yourvoterinfo.
The Do's and Don'ts of voting by mail:
- Make certain that you sign and date the form under oath. ONLY the voter can sign the ballot and signatures must match.
- Only one ballot can be returned per envelope. Households cannot send multiple ballots back in one certified envelope.
- Fill in the ovals completely, no checkmarks or Xs.
- If you make a mistake, clearly state in plain writing on the ballot who you are trying to vote for. The canvassing board, will read that and make certain your vote is counted properly.
