Polls for early voting open in 37 Florida counties, including Tampa Bay area

What to know about early voting in Florida

Elizabeth Fry reports

TAMPA, Fla. - The general election is just about two weeks away, but starting this week, in-person early voting begins in 37 Florida counties – including several in the Bay Area.

Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 24 in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Manatee counties. Pasco, Polk, Hernando, and Citrus counties begin early voting later in the week.

"They can come early vote, it’s one of three ways that voters can cast a ballot in Florida, we have mail ballots, we have early voting, and then of course, on Election Day," said Dustin Chase, the Deputy Supervisor of Elections for Pinellas County. "Voters in Pinellas County will have more access to ballots than they have ever had before, we’re really proud of this, and every single voter in Pinellas County is going to be within five miles of an early voting site."

Chase says Pinellas County added two early voting locations this year compared to the last general election in 2020.

READ: Early voting days expanded in Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties; residents can request vote-by-mail ballots

Hillsborough County has 26 early voting locations.

If you do plan to cast your vote early, polls open are Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Nov. 6. Just make sure you bring a current photo ID with your signature.

Regardless of what county you live in, or what party you represent, election officials say their message is the same across the board: Get out and vote.

"It doesn’t matter to us how voters vote, as long as they’re out there casting ballots, that’s the most important part," Chase said.

Push to keep penny sales tax in Pasco County

Thousands of new residents moved to Pasco County recently, and those voters will get to decide on the future of the county’s projects through a penny sales tax to accommodate its growth.

MORE: Pasco voters to decide on penny sales tax for projects to accommodate county's growth

You can still send in a mail-in ballot as well to cast your vote. The last day to request a mail-in ballot is Saturday, Oct. 29.

There's already been over a million Floridians casting their vote by mail. More than 1.3 million mail-in ballots have been sent with Democratic voters having a slightly higher response rate compared to Republican voters with nearly 490,000 ballots sent in.

For more information on early voting locations and operating hours, check your county’s Supervisor of Elections website: