There has been considerable misinformation and disinformation pertaining to voting in the November election, particularly regarding vote by mail. As such I wanted to dedicate a column to the matter. Whether you are registered to vote or still need to do so, plan to vote by mail but aren't sure how, want to vote early or on Election Day, here's everything you need to know to make sure your vote counts in this year's election.
Make sure you're registered!
The first deadline for voters to be aware of is October 5, which is the last day you can register to vote and still be eligible to participate in this year's election. To be clear, if you register to vote anytime from October 6 on, you will not be on the voter rolls for the November 3 election. You can register to vote onlinehere. If you are unsure whether you are registered to vote in Manatee County, you can check your voter registration status, here.
Vote by Mail
Vote by mail has steadily increased in popularity since the botched 2000 presidential election. Since 2000, Americans have cast more than 250 million ballots by mail and the option now accounts for about 1/3 of all voting in the U.S.
Ever since the politicization of Vote by Mail became an issue in the 2020 Presidential Election, however, voters on both sides of the aisle have had concerns. Locally, we began receiving messages from readers as soon as ballots were sent out for the August primary wondering why in the world party identification was included on the return envelope. So, we asked Manatee Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett.
"The answer, believe it or not, is history,“ said Bennett, speaking to TBT on primary election night. "That’s just the way they’ve always been printed and, to be honest, we’ve never heard a single complaint before this year. Of course, there’s never been an election like this either.“
Bennett said that he understood, given the current climate, why voters would have concerns about such identification and that he couldn’t say why the envelopes had been designed that way. He said that his office planned to request that the state discontinue the practice. It’s important to note that party identification is only used on primary ballot envelopes in Florida, where the ballots differ based on registration. There are no such markings on general election ballots, which are all the same.
Bennett, a former Republican Florida Senator, has been a strong proponent of Vote by Mail for years and didn’t seem to relish the idea of voters being scared away from the practice more than has already happened by the President’s attack on vote by mail, despite having regularly used the option himself, including in this year’s Florida primary (Trump switched his registration from New York to Florida last year).
As a result of the president’s obsession with stopping vote by mail, which he’s claimed is rife with fraud without offering evidence, there has been much confusion about the topic. The president later said that absentee ballots are fine, leading many of his supporters in Florida to argue that we should keep the latter and throw away the former. Only Florida doesn’t have absentee voting and hasn’t for years. Any resident can request a mail-in ballot, regardless of whether they are going to be present in the state on Election Day.
Most expressed concerns regard ballots erroneously sent out, however, they ignore the fact that such ballots are almost never counted. Even if someone gets ahold of someone else’s mail-in ballot, a signature match is still required upon its receipt. This sort of voter impersonation fraud has, time and again, been shown to be infinitesimal.
A report by the NYU School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice showed that it is more likely for an American to be struck by lightning than to commit mail voting fraud. A WAPO study done in conjunction with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), revealed that when it comes to fraud in vote by mail, it amounts to only one six-millionth of one percent of all votes! In reality, such attempts are a high-risk, low-reward enterprise. The idea of being able to swing even the smallest local election in such a manner would be daunting, let alone a national presidential election.
How to make sure your mail-in ballot gets counted
If you would like to request a vote by mail ballot, you can do so online here or download the mail-in formhere. The deadline to request a vote by mail ballot is October 24.
Vote by mail ballots must be signed and returned to the Supervisor of Elections Office by 7 p.m. on November 3 (Election Day), either by mail or by hand delivering the ballot to the dropbox at the SOE office. It does not matter when your ballot is postmarked. If it doesn't arrive by Election Day, with a signature, your vote will not be counted!
According to the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, 52,150 voters used the vote by mail option for last month's primary, and almost 800 of those ballots were discarded. More than half of the disqualified ballots did not arrive at the office by the August 18 deadline. The rest were either because the voter forgot to sign their ballot, or the signature block did not match the signature on file.
The Manatee County Canvassing Board reviews all signatures flagged for not matching the coinciding voter registration card. The board is comprised of Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett, one of the Manatee County commissioners, and a county judge. The decision hinges on whatever a majority of the three officials decide, though the office may attempt to reach voters for clarification, time permitting.
Overseas Voting (military and civilian)
Overseas voters have the option to return the ballot and signed voter's certificate by fax or mail. The ballot and certificate must be faxed directly to the fax number provided by the Supervisor of Elections or to a fax number provided by the Federal Voting Assistance Program of the Department of Defense.
An overseas voter has 10 extra days from election day to mail back a vote-by-mail ballot. The 10-day extension applies only in presidential preference primary elections, general elections, and special elections (primary or general). The overseas voter’s vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked or dated by Election Day and received within 10 days of the election in order to be counted, provided the ballot is otherwise acceptable.
Early Voting
Early voting has been extended to the full 14 allowable days for the general election (Florida law requires each county to offer at least 10 days of early voting and allows up to 14). Early voting will take place at six locations throughout the county from October 19 to November 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., daily.
Election Day Voting
Once early voting has closed, voters wishing to participate must vote in-person on Election Day at their prescribed precinct, which can be found here. On Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Now, I've spoken to many voters over the years who prefer to vote on Election Day either because of tradition or to ensure that there's no chance of missing a last-minute revelation about a candidate that may cause them to change their mind. To be honest, I've always counted myself among this group. That said, this year is different.
For starters, we're in the midst of a pandemic and any effort to spread out crowds of voters over longer periods will make polling places safer, both for those voting and those volunteering at voting sites. It will also make the job of counting the votes much more manageable. Given the likelihood that this year's contentious presidential election is likely to once again be very close and come down to results in a handful of swing states like Florida, we Floridians would be doing everyone a favor to help make sure our state reports accurate results as early as possible. Trust me, the rest of the country still hasn't forgiven us for 2000.
That said, if you're reading this column, I'd bet dollars to donuts that you're a regular voter, and, for that, I salute you. It doesn't matter if we agree on the candidates and issues. Representative democracies require citizen participation from an informed electorate. So no matter what method you choose, invest some time in researching the candidates and issues, and make your vote count!
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County governmentsince 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University, where he earned a degree in Government. He later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Clickherefor his bio. Dennis's latest novel, Sacred Hearts, is availablehere.
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