Yes, your vote-by-mail request was erased from Florida’s system. Here’s why

TAMPA, Fla. — If you prefer to vote by mail, your request for a ballot expired.

Cindy M. in Spring Hill emailed VERIFY after seeing posts in her community Facebook group warning others to check the status of their vote-by-mail requests.

She was surprised to learn requests were being wiped from county systems and wondered if changes were made to how long a person stays on the vote-by-mail list in Florida.

THE QUESTION

Did Florida erase vote-by-mail requests?

THE SOURCES

• Florida Senate Bill 90
• Brian Corley, Pasco County Supervisor of Elections

THE ANSWER

Yes, your vote-by-mail request was erased from Florida’s system because of a change made to state law that requires more frequent requests.

WHAT WE FOUND

All existing vote-by-mail requests were voided after the 2022 general election.

Vote-by-mail requests in Florida used to be good for two election cycles. Now, those requests are only valid for one cycle.

Under changes made in 2021 to the state’s election law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, counties must now purge requests after every general election.

Voting by mail has become the most popular method of voting in Florida.

In the 2022 general election, 2.77 million Floridians voted by mail. That was just ahead of the election day turnout of 2.73 million and 2.3 million ballots cast during early in-person voting.

Elections supervisors across the state are reaching out to voters to let them know about the law changes made by Senate Bill 90.

“The fact that all vote-by-mail requests from 2022 have expired is an important message that all Florida election officials are looking to share with voters,” Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards told VERIFY.

Across the Tampa Bay area, elections supervisors say they have tens of thousands fewer vote-by-mail requests on file compared to this time one year ago.

In Hillsborough County, there are 240,000 fewer mail ballots slated to go out to voters. In Polk County, 11,108 vote-by-mail requests are on file as of Aug. 11, compared to 122,276 in 2022. In Manatee County, where there were more than 110,000 vote-by-mail requests in 2022, the elections office has just 6,776 on file as of Aug. 11.

At Pasco County’s elections office, Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley said they’ve managed to re-up roughly 30,000 voters of the 78,236 who had a vote-by-mail request on file in 2022.

“The challenge we have is outside of election frames, we're sort of a forgotten entity,” Corley said. “That’s OK that voters think of us during election time, but we're trying to make sure voters are election-ready now in advance of the [2024] cycle.”

Pinellas County’s election office is faring even better with 210,481 mail ballot requests on file as of Aug. 11 compared to 251,321 in 2022. A spokesperson said they’ve sponsored radio ads, sent out emails and postcards and included a form with 2022 ballot envelopes giving voters the chance to re-request for the next general election.

You can request a vote-by-mail ballot online, print and mail in a form, or visit your local supervisor of elections office.

Find your local elections supervisor’s office below:

• Citrus
• Hernando
• Hillsborough
• Manatee
• Pasco
• Pinellas
• Polk
• Sarasota