ORLANDO, Fla. — The deadline for Orange County voters to request a mail-in ballot be sent to them for the upcoming general election is 5 p.m. Thursday.
After the deadline passes, voters can still pick up a mail-in ballot in person at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office on Kaley St. through Election Day or vote in person.
The easiest way to request a vote-by-mail ballot is through the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website. Voters can also call, email or fax the completed form to the elections office.
Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel is urging voters to vote early or by mail to allow enough time for ballots to be counted by Election Day.
If voters return a ballot by mail, Castor Dentel recommended sending it back at least a week before Election Day, which would be Oct. 27.
“Most people are still returning them by mail,” Castor Dentel said, adding that it remains “a very safe option.”
“There will be no screening that the post office does for ballots,” she said. “In fact, they actually will handle them with priority and get them to us as soon as they can.”
For voters requesting a mail-in ballot on Thursday, Castor Dentel said there may not be much time to receive it, fill it out and mail it back. Voters can instead drop off completed ballots in person at any of the county’s 27 early voting sites.
New early voting locations have been added to improve access to voting sites.
Orange County has more than 822,000 registered voters. According to data uploaded by the Supervisor of Elections office, more than 126,000 mail-in ballots have been requested so far.