Drop in mail-in ballot requests
Mail-in ballot requests have dropped significantly across parts of Florida ahead of the August primary election. Election officials attribute the shift to a state law change that requires voters to renew their requests. FOX 13’s Blake DeVine reports.
TAMPA, Fla. – Mail-in ballot requests have dropped significantly across parts of Florida ahead of the August primary election. Election officials attribute the shift to a state law change that requires voters to renew their requests.
Florida mail-in ballot requests
The backstory:
For years, millions of Floridians automatically received mail-in ballots. That changed in 2025, when a new law required requests for mail-in ballots to expire at the end of each election year.
Dustin Chase is a deputy supervisor of elections for Pinellas County. He says many voters may not realize their requests are no longer active.
“One of the big challenges is that people simply aren’t aware that their mail ballot request have expired,” Chase said.
Mail-in ballot request numbers fall across Bay Area
By the numbers:
In Pasco County, election officials have received about 22,000 mail-in ballot requests thus far. At the same point in 2024, that number stood at roughly 77,000.
Pinellas County has also seen requests fall, with mail-in ballot requests down about 45% compared to 2024.
“We have about 153,000 mail ballot requests on file,” Chase said. “We really need about a quarter million to make voting as comfortable as possible for everyone.”
Possible Election Day challenges
What they’re saying:
Hillsborough County election officials say they’re preparing to notify voters who need to renew their requests.
FOX 13’s political editor and chief investigator Craig Patrick says the decline in mail-in ballot requests could create challenges.
“If people don’t realize they can’t get mail-in ballots, it may result in more people lining up to vote on Election Day,” Patrick said.
Nevertheless, Patrick believes the lower number of mail ballot requests doesn’t necessarily mean turnout will decline.
“This is going to be a very energized base on both sides,” Patrick said. “I expect turnout will be equal to the last midterm, if not higher.”
State election integrity standards
Dig deeper:
Following the 2020 election, voting by mail came under increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump and some of his allies.
When discussing election integrity, Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to the state’s SAVE Act as a national model.
“All you have to do is watch these elections,” DeSantis said. “See how Florida performs, and we become the envy of the nation.”
Election officials maintain that safeguards are in place to ensure ballots are properly verified.
“We’re verifying it every step of the way, and we continue to believe that the process is safe,” Chase said.
Voting status verification steps
What you can do:
Election officials encourage anyone planning to vote by mail in August to check their status and submit a request as soon as possible.
The Source: Information for this story came from statements from the Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough County Supervisors of Elections and previous reporting on FOX 13 News.