ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Oct. 5 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 General Election in Florida.<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s midterm elections do not get the attention from voters that a presidential election gets, but they are no less important.<\/p>\n
Voter turnout usually trends lower for midterm elections. Perhaps people think the election is not that important. Maybe they forgot. In 2022, only 54% of voters turned out for the general election. By comparison, 78.9% of voters turned out for the 2024 presidential election, according to the Florida Division of Elections.<\/a><\/p>\n Florida voters in 2026 will decide who succeeds Ron DeSantis as governor, who should run the Florida Legislature, who should represent them in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and they\u2019ll decide on races for county and city governments.<\/p>\n These races have a more direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Floridians than the presidential election does, with taxes, school curriculum and whether the roads you drive on should have tolls among the topics to deliberate.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s important to make sure you are able to vote in Florida.<\/p>\n What you need to be eligible to vote<\/p>\n You are eligible to vote in Florida if:<\/p>\n You\u2019re a citizen of the United States of America by birth or naturalization <\/p>\n You\u2019re a legal resident of Florida<\/p>\n You\u2019re a legal resident of the county in which you seek to be registered<\/p>\n You\u2019re at least 16 years old to preregister, or at least 18 years old to register and vote<\/p>\n You\u2019re not deemed mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state without having the right to vote restored<\/p>\n If you were convicted of a felony, when your right to vote has been restored in Florida<\/p>\n There are no set rules for what makes a legal resident in Florida. The biggest thing is you must have a residential address in the state. Also, your home address cannot be a post office box.<\/p>\n How to register<\/p>\n There are a few ways to register to vote in Florida.<\/p>\n Online:<\/p>\n Florida has an online voter registration system. Go to RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov<\/a>. There, you can register to vote, update your voter registration, and check to see if you are registered. The site is available in English and in Spanish.<\/p>\n Note: If you do this, you must have a Florida driver\u2019s license or Florida identification card that is issued by the state. You also need the last four digits of your Social Security number.<\/p>\n In person:<\/p>\n You can also register to vote in person at the following offices:<\/p>\n The driver\u2019s-license office<\/p>\n A public library<\/p>\n The Center for Independent Living<\/p>\n WIC and DCF offices<\/p>\n Armed forces recruitment officers<\/p>\n Any supervisor of elections office<\/p>\n You can also print out a copy of the voter registration application and mail it to your county supervisor of elections office<\/a>.<\/p>\n In order to register on a paper application, you must have:<\/p>\n A Florida driver\u2019s license or Florida identification card<\/p>\n OR the last four digits of your Social Security number<\/p>\n What\u2019s the deadline to register to vote?<\/p>\n In order to vote in an election, you must get your voter registration application in 29 days before that election, a deadline known as \u201cbook closing.\u201d Here are the book closing dates for this year:<\/p>\n November general election: Oct. 5<\/p>\n What if I\u2019m from another state?<\/p>\n If you are from another state, you need to fill out a new voter registration form for Florida. Your registration does not transfer from one state to the next. You need to make sure you are registered by the dates above in order to vote in a Florida election.<\/p>\n What if I\u2019m registered and I want to update my registration (in-state change of address, change party affiliation, etc.)?<\/p>\n Say you need to change your address, or you want to change your party affiliation so you can vote in a party primary. You need to do this 29 days before the election. If you have a driver\u2019s license, you can do this online at Register to Vote Florida.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n You will need a Florida driver\u2019s license or a Florida identification card in order to make those changes AND the last four digits of your Social Security Number; otherwise, you will have to download a voter registration application and mail in your changes to your county supervisor of elections office<\/a>. You can also go to the office.<\/p>\n Note, if you are making changes to your party affiliation before a primary election, you must make those changes by the deadline to register for that election. Florida is a closed primary state, which means only people who are members of a political party can vote in party primary elections. <\/p>\n If you move to a new address within your county and you aren\u2019t able to change your address before election day, you can go to your new polling precinct and update the address with the polling clerk, or call your county elections office.<\/p>\n What if I\u2019m registered to vote, but I haven\u2019t voted in a while?<\/p>\n You may be considered an inactive voter. That\u2019s when a voter\u2019s information cannot be verified, and then an address verification letter is sent to you but returned as \u201cundeliverable.\u201d<\/p>\n To go from being an inactive voter to an active voter, all you have to do is vote, or contact your county supervisor of elections office<\/a>.<\/p>\n Being an inactive voter does not stop you from voting.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious if your voter registration is active, you can go to RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov<\/a>, and look up your registration under \u201cAm I Already Registered?\u201d<\/p>\n What if I\u2019ve been removed from voter rolls by accident?<\/p>\n The Florida Division of Elections<\/a> says voters are removed from the rolls if they are dead, not a U.S. citizen, not listing a valid Florida address, have had their voting rights taken away because of a felony conviction or are judged to be mentally incapable, or if a voter has left the state and Florida election officials have been notified. A voter may also be asked to be removed from the rolls.<\/p>\n If you think you have been removed from the voter rolls by accident, you should contact your county supervisor of elections office<\/a> immediately and submit a new voter registration application.<\/p>\n I am a convicted felon who has completed my sentence. How do I get my voting rights restored?<\/p>\n In Florida, certain felons who have completed their sentences are permitted to register to vote. Florida law requires that felons complete any prison and parole sentence, and probation, plus pay all applicable court fees.<\/p>\n Once this is done, you fill out a new voter registration application.<\/p>\n