Action may be required if you want to vote by mail

File photo: Completed Vote By Mail ballots are shown ready to be mailed to voters at the Marion County Election Center in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, June 29, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

As the election season approaches, voters who have historically voted by mail will have to reapply to do so since all mail-in ballot requests expired at the end of 2022. This change may not have registered with voters yet because as of June 18, less than half of Marion County voters who requested mail-in ballots in the last general election have reapplied to do so in the coming election.

Vote-by-mail, formerly called “absentee voting,” allows a voter to receive and submit a paper ballot by mail, bypassing the need to visit polling stations in person to cast your vote.

However, due to recent state legislative changes, memorialized in Florida Statutes §101.62(a), the maximum amount of time your request for a vote-by-mail ballot will be honored is “[f]or all elections through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election.”

This translates into voters needing to reapply for a vote-by-mail ballot at the beginning of each odd-numbered year. Election dates this year are Primary Elections on Tuesday, Aug. 20, and General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

In the 2022 general election, 69,670 Marion County residents requested mail-in ballots and 46,177 voted using that method. As of June 18, Marion County Elections Supervisor Wesley Wilcox reports 29,662, less than half of the mail-in voters, have renewed their request.

Voters who do not renew their request for a mail-in ballot may still vote in person.

Eligibility for Vote-by-Mail

In Florida, all registered voters are eligible to use vote-by-mail ballots. Unlike in the past, voters are no longer required to provide a reason for opting to vote by mail except when requesting a ballot on Election Day.

Receiving your Vote-by-Mail Ballot

Vote-by-mail ballots are not sent out automatically. To receive one, you must have an active request on file with the Marion County Election Center. You can check the status of your mail ballot request by contacting the Election Center at (352) 620-3290 or using the Voter Registration Status Tool available online.

Request Deadlines

Your request for a vote-by-mail ballot must be received by the Marion County Election Center no later than 5 p.m. on the 12th day before the election. If you miss this deadline, you or your designee can still pick up a vote-by-mail ballot from the Election Center through Election Day. However, it is crucial that all vote-by-mail ballots are received by the Election Center by 7 p.m. on Election Night to be counted.

How to Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot

You can request a vote-by-mail ballot for a specific election or for all elections through the end of the calendar year of the next scheduled general election. Since vote-by-mail ballots cannot be forwarded, it is important to ensure the Election Center has your current mailing address or the specified address where you wish to receive your ballot. If you need the ballot sent to an address other than the one on file, the request must be in writing, signed by you, and include your Florida driver license number, Florida ID card number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number.

According to the Supervisor of Election’s website, Marion County voters have several options for requesting a vote-by-mail ballot:

– Online: Use the Online Vote-by-Mail Ballot Request Service, found at: www.votemarion.gov/mbrs

– By Phone or fax: Call (352) 620-3290.

– In Person: Visit the Marion County Election Center, 981 NE 16th St., Ocala.

– In Writing: Submit the Statewide Vote-by-Mail Ballot Request form that you can download here: http://files.floridados.gov/media/707825/ds-de-160-statewide-vote-by-mail-request-adoption.pdf

– Email: Send your request to VoteByMail@VoteMarion.Gov.

– Mail: Address your request to P.O. Box 289, Ocala, FL 34478-0289.

Military and Overseas Voters can request a vote-by-mail ballot by submitting an Online Vote-by-Mail Ballot Application or by completing a Federal Post Card Application. More information is available on the Military/Overseas Voters page.