FORT MYERS, Fla. — In areas ravaged by Hurricane Ian, local elections officials are working to overcome hurdles and ensure safe and secure voting access just weeks from the pivotal midterm election.
Officials are also hoping the state steps in to help alleviate some of their issues.
“We are going to operate a secure election,” Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle vowed.
Even with ongoing challenges post-Ian, Lee, Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Collier counties have all been able to mail out ballots to those that requested them.
“All our vote-by-mail requests have been mailed out so that’s about 170,000 [ballots] have been mailed,” Doyle explained.
Some people displaced by the storm may not be able to get those ballots. In that case, officials say to call their local supervisor of elections office to request a new one be sent to wherever they may be staying. In some cases, it could require them to change their address in their voter file and they will be able to walk them through that.
Meantime, Doyle is encouraging more people to vote by mail or vote early, as some polling sites have been decimated.
“We usually have 97 sites, right now I can only confirm about 50% of those are available and I can confirm that at least 25% are not available,” Doyle added.
To address that, Doyle is asking Governor Ron DeSantis to take executive action and allow them to operate their 12 early voting sites as voting centers on election day. He’s also requesting the state to waive the law (for displaced people) which requires a signature if they want a ballot sent to an address not in their voter file. To help with a shortage of workers, they want the state to waive the poll worker re-training requirement.
“These vote centers will have experienced poll workers that have been trained in the primary election,” Doyle added.
In 2018, then-Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order post-Hurricane Michael that allowed impacted counties to have consolidated polling places.
Even in an area that’s been dealt a brutal blow, the voter base is resilient and ready to make their voice heard; Doyle says his office has been fielding calls non-stop from voters.
“It's going to be secure, transparent, and we're out there to make sure they have the availability to vote.”