Vote-by-mail request deadline is Thursday for Orange, Seminole, Osceola elections
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Voters planning to cast a ballot in next month’s elections across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties next month face a crucial deadline this week if they want to vote by mail.
In a sweeping elections package signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021, voters must submit a new request to receive a ballot in the mail every two years, with a deadline of 12 days before an election to do so. This year, that is Thursday at 5 p.m.
Eligible voters who miss the deadline still have the option to vote in person, either early or on Election Day Nov. 7.
Vote-by-mail registrations are wiped out every two years under the new rules, meaning all requests made before Jan. 1, 2023, are expired. Requests made this year can also apply to next year’s presidential election. Before the law changed, a vote-by-mail ballot could be requested every four years.
“The big difference here is in that same piece of legislation is that the vote-by-mail request is only good for one election cycle, the two-year period,” Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said.
The Nov. 7 ballot includes races ranging from Orlando mayor and city council seats to a Florida House District special election and other municipal races.
Cowles said ballots should be in the mail back to his office by Nov. 1 to ensure they arrive on time.
So far, more than 16,000 city of Orlando voters and 7,000 House District 35 voters have requested vote-by-mail ballots from his office ahead of the deadline. That’s about a 22% decrease so far from 2019 when Cowles’ office shipped out more than 20,000 ballots to Orlando voters.
Voters in several jurisdictions can cast ballots Nov. 7.
All voters who live in the city of Orlando can vote for mayor, where incumbent Buddy Dyer faces challengers Sam Ings, Tony Vargas and Steve Dixon.
District 4 voters covering neighborhoods east and south of downtown Orlando will see incumbent Patty Sheehan, and opponents Katie Koch and Randy Ross on their ballots.
If a candidate in either the mayor’s race or the District 4 race doesn’t receive more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will have a runoff on Dec. 5.
Voters in District 6, covering southwest Orlando will also be able to choose their city commissioner, with incumbent Bakari Burns facing Rufus Hawkins.
After Fred Hawkins resigned his Florida House seat to take a job as a state college president, a special election was scheduled to determine his replacement.
Party-affiliated voters in District 35, which spans Lake Nona, east Orange County south into Osceola, can decide the Republican and Democrat who will square off in the Jan. 16 general election.
Republicans will choose among Erika Booth, Ken Davenport and Scotty Moore, while Democrats have Marucci Guzman, Rishi Bagga and Tom Keen to consider as their nominee.
Early voting for all Orange County elections begins Saturday, and ends Nov. 5, with polling places open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The three Orange County polling places for early voting are:
Supervisor of Elections Office, 119 W. Kaley Street
Alafaya Branch Library, 12000 E. Colonial Dr.
Valencia College, Lake Nona Campus 12350 Narcoossee Road
The state House district also includes a portion of Osceola, with early voting available at:
Supervisor of Elections Office, 2509 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway
Narcoossee Community Center, 5354 Rambling Road
Lake Mary and Oviedo votes also have municipal elections Nov. 7., and early voting is available Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Oviedo City Hall or at the Supervisor of Elections office in Sanford.
