Bay Area voters head to the polls on Monday as early voting gets underway

Early voting begins Monday

Florida is expecting a surge of people at early voting locations based on the number of early voters in other states, which opened early voting sites last week. FOX 13's Political Editor Craig Patrick reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Early voting begins on Monday, but more than 14 million people have already cast ballots in the 2024 general election, including more than 1.1 million in Florida who have returned mail-in ballots.

Florida expects a rush of early voting starting Monday, October 21, when most counties open in-person early voting sites. Each county’s election office lists the in-person voting centers on their websites along with their operating hours.

Governor Ron DeSantis gave county election managers more flexibility to help deal with storm damage and help people who had to move because of it. It allows "supervisors of elections to make reasonable modest but reasonable accommodations."

Some precinct locations have changed. Election offices are notifying affected voters.

Voters can call the county election supervisor's office or check out its website to see which polling places have changed this year, as well as a full list of voting sites and dates for early in-person voting. Voters can also request a mail ballot (or a new mail ballot if the one they received was damaged in the storms).

READ: Florida sues Biden admin over alleged refusal to help state purge noncitizens from voter rolls

"We are coming together to make this process of normalcy," said Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus. "It’s the fabric of who we are as America."

Voters can cast a ballot at an early voting location in their home county (the one where a voter’s address is on file with the state).

If you have been displaced by the hurricanes and can't get back to your home county, you can call or go to your county's election website- to request a ballot to be sent to where you are temporarily staying.

READ: Presidential election 2024: Here’s your Bay Area voter’s guide

The deadline for requesting a mail-in ballot is October 24 at 5 p.m. and to be counted, ballots be received at the elections office no later than 7 p.m. on November 5 (received, not postmarked).

As an alternative to mailing it, voters can drop it off at a secure ballot station at one of their home county's early voting locations during early voting hours.

If you're voting by mail, remember to sign your name on the back of the return envelope. Sign as you normally would. Don't scribble because they compare your signature to the one on file, and if they don't match, will reach out to you to rectify. That's one reason why election offices also give you the option of writing your email address and phone number on the back of the ballot envelope (to make sure they can quickly contact you if there are any issues).

And after you drop off your mail-in ballot, you can also go online and track its progress from arrival to getting counted.

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