Nearly 50,000 mail-in primary ballots shipped out to Hillsborough County voters
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The 2024 election season got underway in Hillsborough County on Thursday, as nearly 50,000 ballots were sent out to Republican primary voters who elected to vote by mail. The county expects those voters will receive their ballots in the next couple of days.
“There’s a tremendous chain of custody on these ballots,” said Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer. “We have forms that we fill out. You have to be a registered voter and request this ballot. We don’t just send vote-by-mail ballots out, you had to request it.”
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Supervisor Latimer assured voters that their vote counts and are secure.
“When these come back, of course, they’re going to be under lock and key,” said Latimer. “Under 24/7 video surveillance. So there’s a lot of accountability that goes into this.
Part of that accountability comes from Thursday’s logic and accuracy test.
“A logic is to make sure that the machine can see every single spot on that ballot where a vote can be cast, whether it’s a write-in, a candidate, whatever it is,” Latimer explained. “And the accuracy, obviously, does it count correctly? And they do.”
The public had a chance to watch the tests as well.
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“You don’t want people to feel disenfranchised that their vote doesn’t count, so that’s one of the reasons I come here,” said Teresa Miller. “People are listening to a lot of things and not getting involved. When you get involved, I think you have more confidence that your vote counts.
Miller said she’s a Republican and a member of the Florida Fair Elections Coalition.
“One of the things we’re working on is really making sure we understand the election process,” Miller said. “So that we can help others who maybe are new to the process.”
Completed ballots must be returned back to the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters can track their ballot once it’s submitted, all the way to primary day.
Voters also have the option to vote early in-person March 4 to March 17. The last opportunity to vote in the presidential preference primary election is on Tuesday, March 19.
The deadline to register or change your party is Feb. 20, and early voting is from March 4 to March 17.
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