Voters may still cast ballot in person, even after voting by mail
TAMPA, Fla. - Polls open bright and early Tuesday morning for the Florida Primary Election Day. Hundreds of thousands cast their votes early and there has been a massive increase in votes cast by mail.
Bay Area supervisors of elections have planned and prepared for a mid-pandemic election, implementing safeguards at polling locations to keep everyone healthy. Their primary goal is a smooth Primary, laying the groundwork for a seamless General Election.
More than 555,000 Floridians cast in-person votes early, which is down from the 2018 Primary and up from 2016.
However, 2.1 million mail ballots have been counted as of Monday, compared to 1.28 million in the 2016 Primary. This year's total includes more than 733,000 Republicans and about a million Democrats.
PREVIOUS: Vote by mail in Florida primary already far exceeds 2016
Fact vs fiction: Vote-by-mail in Florida
More voters are casting ballots by mail so far in this month’s primary and a University of Florida poll shows more than 60-percent plan to vote by mail in the November election. But we ‘re getting a lot of questions about the process and concerns about security.
"I've sent out 340,000 vote-by-mail packages and I can tell you that is more than double what I sent in the 2016 Primary," said Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County's Supervisor of Elections.
As of Monday, 146,931 in Hillsborough County voted by mail; up from 83,038 in 2016. In Sarasota County, 67,410 voted by mail; up from 37,430. So far from Polk County, 56,827 mail-in votes were counted; compared to 37,576 in 2016. And in Pasco, voters mailed more than 51,621 ballots; compared to 28,287.
"Our vote-by-mail utilization was up almost 100% from 2016," said Brian Corley, Pasco County's Supervisor of Elections. "Voters are getting it resoundingly and opting for the convenience of it, if you will, and dare I say, safety of vote by mail."
But for those hitting the polls on Primary day, CDC guidelines will be strictly enforced.
"We had a lot of protective equipment for our poll workers and, of course, for the voters," Corley said.
Barriers, spaced privacy booths, masks, frequent wipe downs, and in Hillsborough and Pasco counties, souvenir stylus pens will help reduce contact.
"You're going to use the stylus to sign-in on the electronic poll book," Latimer said. "You're going to use the pen to fill out the ballot. And we want you to take that souvenir along with your 'I voted' sticker."
2020 brought its share of struggles. Voting hopefully won't be one of them.
"Every election cycle we had a mantra, something to motivate us," Corley said. "And, this cycle for 2020 is 'make it work.' Whatever we have to do to make it work, we are going to do that."
It is too late to send back a vote-by-mail ballot. They must be dropped off at a Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
If you received and/or sent in a vote-by-mail ballot, but decide to vote in-person, that's fine. Your vote by mail ballot will be canceled as soon as you check-in at a polling location.