ORLANDO, Fla. — A disconnect between two Florida state databases could cause big problems for the 2026 elections all across Florida if it is not closed.
What You Need To Know
The Florida DMV’s new license numbers aren’t updating in the state voter database
The disconnect mostly affects mail-in voters in Florida
Voters with new licenses are encouraged to update their registration info to avoid disruptions
This year, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles started issuing driver’s licenses with more random numbers to better protect people’s personal information. Everyone who gets a new license will get a new number.
But when people get those new licenses, the information is not going into the Florida Department of State database, which is used to verify IDs when voting.
“If they don’t update their voter registration at all, then that data is not bundled up and sent to the Secretary of State and then down to the Supervisor of Elections,” Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph said.
Orange County Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel says the gap between the FLHSMV database and the state department database is affecting people who need to vote by mail.
Castor Dentel’s office reported last year that nearly 152,000 people voted by mail in Orange County. That’s about 25% of all the votes cast in that election.
“We’re seeing people who have problems requesting their vote by mail ballot and other issues if they don’t update that driver’s license number,” Castor Dentel said.
Castor Dentel says voters will be able to vote at the polls on election day by bringing their current ID or voter registration card, but some people who are trying to get a vote by mail ballots may not receive them as the databases do not talk to each other.
“Not everyone can get out to the polls and vote,” she said. “Whether their work schedule does not permit it or they have disabilities that won’t permit it. So it is important that people do have access to the vote by mail.”
Castor Dentel and Randolph are working on temporary solutions. Customer service workers at the tax collector’s office are asking every person who gets a license to update their voter registration, even if they don’t want to make any changes.
“When my employee asks you to update your voter registration and you think, ‘I don’t have any changes,’ please just go through the steps. I promise if you go through those steps, you won’t have that issue,” Randolph said.
Randolph says in the end, the solution must come out of Tallahassee.
“In the longer term, the two state agencies, DHSMV and the Secretary of State, are going to have to work out their databases to cure this issue,” he said.
Another short-term solution, Castor Dentel says, is people can call or visit the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office, and the staff will update their voter ID information, so it goes into the Department of State database correctly.
Spectrum News reached out to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Florida Department of State by phone and email on Tuesday to see what they are doing to fix this problem. We did not hear from either agency on Tuesday.