ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Data from recent elections show that more Florida voters prefer voting by mail. <\/p>\n
Of the 11 million voters in the 2024 election, more than 3 million used Florida\u2019s no-excuse vote-by-mail system, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections.<\/a><\/p>\n That\u2019s an increase of 255,000 voters from 2022, and aside from 2020, when more people avoided polling places because of COVID-19, shows growth of VBM voters has been steady over the last 10 years.<\/p>\n Florida law does not require a reason to vote by mail, and local election officials say voting by mail is a convenient option, especially for the elderly, those with disabilities, and those who don\u2019t work a classic 9-5 schedule.<\/p>\n If you want to vote by mail in the 2026 midterm elections, you need to request a ballot.<\/p>\n How do I request a vote-by-mail ballot?<\/p>\n A voter can request a ballot be mailed to them by contacting their county supervisor of elections office. You can find a list of the county offices in the state on the Florida Division of Elections website.<\/a><\/p>\n That request can be:<\/p>\n Called in<\/p>\n Made in person at the office<\/p>\n Mailed, faxed or emailed in. If you do this, you must provide a signed request (in the case of an email, you must scan a signed form and send it in as an attachment).<\/p>\n Per Florida law, you must use a specific form if you are mailing, faxing or emailing in a vote-by-mail request.<\/a><\/p>\n You can find the forms by clicking the following links: <\/p>\n All requests must have this information:<\/p>\n Voter\u2019s full name<\/p>\n Date of birth<\/p>\n Address<\/p>\n The voter\u2019s Florida driver\u2019s license number, identification card number or last four digits of their social security number<\/p>\n Those identification numbers are required to be on file with the county supervisor of elections office to get your VBM ballot request approved.<\/p>\n To do that, you will need to fill out a voter registration form to update the information your county has on file. You can find a list of the county offices in the state on the Florida Division of Elections website.<\/a><\/p>\n [WATCH: New form for requesting vote-by-mail ballots (from 2024)]<\/p>\n Do I have to request a ballot for every election?<\/p>\n Anyone wanting to vote by mail in Florida this year in any election must put in a request to do so with their county office. A new vote-by-mail ballot request will be valid for all elections this year. You can find a list of the county offices in the state on the Florida Division of Elections website.<\/a><\/p>\n Can someone request a ballot for me?<\/p>\n Yes. An immediate family member or a legal guardian can request a ballot on a voter\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n The person requesting the ballot must include their address, driver\u2019s license number, ID card or last four digits of their social security number, and their relationship to the voter, in addition to the voter\u2019s information. If the request is being mailed in, the requester must provide a signature as well.<\/p>\n What is the deadline to send in my ballot request?<\/p>\n VBM ballot requests must be submitted 10 days before an election. Here are the dates for 2026:<\/p>\n March 3 Flagler County local elections: Feb. 19<\/p>\n March 7 Eatonville election: Feb. 23<\/p>\n March 10 Orange County local elections: Feb. 26<\/p>\n Aug. 18 Statewide Primary elections: Aug. 6<\/p>\n Nov. 3 General elections: Oct. 22 <\/p>\n The elections supervisor then has two days to get the ballot out to you.<\/p>\n After that deadline, you can always go to the supervisor of elections office in your county, make that request in person, and pick up your ballot.<\/p>\n However, election officials said if you are going to do that, you might as well just vote early, since you will be in the midst of the early voting period.<\/p>\n What if I make a mistake on my ballot?<\/p>\n If you make a mistake on your ballot, contact your county supervisor of elections office,<\/a> and they will send you a new ballot. You can\u2019t fix a mistake on your ballot after you send it in, so be sure you are certain about your responses before you return your ballot.<\/p>\n What is the deadline to turn in a vote-by-mail ballot?<\/p>\n All VBM ballots must be turned in to your county supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on election day. Ballots that are postmarked on election day but not returned until after election day will not be accepted.<\/p>\n How do I turn in a vote-by-mail ballot?<\/p>\n There are three ways to turn in a ballot:<\/p>\n Mail it through a shipping service like the U.S. Postal Service<\/p>\n Turn it in at the county supervisor of elections office in person<\/p>\n Drop it off in a secure ballot intake box during the early voting period<\/p>\n If you plan to mail it back to the supervisor\u2019s office, it\u2019s best to get the ballot in as soon as possible so you do not have to worry about a delivery delay with the U.S. Postal Service.<\/p>\n Election officials also suggest that, if you are going to be out of state when you need to turn in your ballot, you consider using a delivery service that can guarantee delivery to send in your ballot on time.<\/p>\n Will secure ballot intake boxes for vote-by-mail ballots return?<\/p>\n The Florida Legislature allows counties to have \u201csecure ballot intake\u201d boxes during the early voting period. The boxes must be staffed. Many counties will have them at the early voting polling places and the supervisor of elections offices, but not all of them.<\/p>\n Contact your county elections office to find out where the secure ballot intake boxes will be stationed.<\/p>\n If I mail in my ballot, do I have to pay for postage?<\/p>\n Many, but not all, Central Florida counties include a \u201creturn postage paid\u201d envelope with your VBM ballot. The counties that do include:<\/p>\n Brevard<\/p>\n Lake<\/p>\n Marion<\/p>\n Orange<\/p>\n Osceola<\/p>\n Polk<\/p>\n Volusia<\/p>\n Flagler, Seminole and Sumter counties do not provide a return postage-paid envelope. However, county elections supervisors we talked to say that vote-by-mail ballots that don\u2019t have correct postage will still be delivered to the supervisor of elections offices, citing this publication from the U.S. Postal Service.<\/a><\/p>\n Why do I need to sign the return envelope for my ballot?<\/p>\n A signature is required on the return envelope to verify who is mailing in the ballot. The signature is matched up with the one the county supervisor of elections has in your record.<\/p>\n If you are worried about your signature being seen and used for identity theft as it makes its way back to the elections office, voters can put the ballot and envelope in another envelope and mail it back that way.<\/p>\n But the ballot itself must be in that return envelope the elections office provides you, and that envelope must be signed.<\/p>\n What if my signature doesn\u2019t match the one on file?<\/p>\n Signatures change over time as voters age. They may have health issues that can change signatures too. Plus, there is the issue of cursive vs. printing, especially with younger voters, election officials said. These things are taken into account when looking at a signature.<\/p>\n Every signature is checked against the voter\u2019s record, and if there is a discrepancy, you will receive a \u201ccure affidavit.\u201d This gives you a chance to cure your ballot, up to two days after the election.<\/p>\n The elections office will try to contact the voter in any way they can, so make sure you have contact information on file with the county elections office. This is a good reason to get your ballot in sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n You can also always update the signature on file with the county elections office.<\/a><\/p>\n Learn more about the process of curing a ballot HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n Can someone return my vote-by-mail ballot for me?<\/p>\n A voter can turn in ballots of family members and up to two ballots by people who are not family members.<\/p>\n This is to curb so-called \u201cballot harvesting.\u201d<\/p>\n While election workers may not always ask you to verify which ballots are yours and which belong to family members, there will likely be volunteer poll monitors out and about and watching.<\/p>\n How can I track my ballot and make sure it was received?<\/p>\n You can go to your county supervisor of elections website and track the status of your ballot<\/a>, whether it has been returned, whether it\u2019s been accepted and whether there is something you have to fix. Many of them use programs that can help with that, such as BallotTrax. You must sign up for that program.<\/p>\n How do election officials know a vote-by-mail ballot isn\u2019t fraudulent?<\/p>\n