MANATEE COUNTY—Manatee County voters who requested a Vote-By-Mail ballot began receiving primary election ballots in the mail last week. Some voters, however, were surprised to receive a primary ballot that did not match their current party affiliation.
Voters who recently changed their party affiliation to cast votes in local primary races have reported receiving an incorrect vote-by-mail ballot.
Due to state-imposed deadlines that dictate when local Supervisor of Elections Officials must begin processing vote-by-mail ballot requests and mailing out those ballots to the voters who have requested them, in some instances, voters receive ballots that represent outdated voter information.
The issue appears to be a timing problem and not an error due to the local SOE. It is also likely only impacting voters who had outstanding requests for a mail-in ballot but then switched their party affiliation afterward.
One such voter posted to social media on Monday, writing, “I just received my vote-by-mail ballot for the upcoming primary. It is not the correct ballot for the party in which I am registered.”
The poster encouraged other voters to open their vote-by-mail ballots immediately to double-check that they had received the correct ballot. Two residents responded to the poster in the comments section, saying that they, too, had received a primary ballot that did not match their current party affiliations.
TBT reached out to the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office to better understand what was happening and to learn what voters should do if they received an incorrect ballot.
According to a spokesperson with the SOE, officials are aware of the isolated issue and are working to provide voters who were impacted with their corrected ballots in the coming days. The updated (correct) vote-by-mail primary ballots will arrive in voters’ mailboxes just as the first one did.
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So, what should you do if you receive an incorrect Vote-By-Mail ballot?
The SOE said you don’t have to do anything. You will receive a correct ballot automatically without having to request a new one.
Voters who received ballots for the primary elections that don’t match their current party affiliation should hold on to the incorrect ballot until their new updated vote-by-mail ballot arrives. Once the correct primary ballot has been delivered, the incorrect vote-by-mail ballot can safely be destroyed.
There is no need to “surrender” the incorrect ballot back to the SOE or your polling location. Simply destroying the miss-issued vote-by-mail ballot is enough. Voters should use the re-sent correct ballot to cast their votes.
What if a voter has already received their Vote-By-Mail ballot but would like to change their party affiliation?
There is still time for voters who wish to change their party affiliation before the primary election to do so. They have until midnight on Monday, July 22, to submit those changes.
Address changes, legal name changes, and other voter information can be updated at any time, even on election day, but party affiliation changes or new voter registrations must be submitted 29 days before the primary election scheduled for August 20.
Registering to vote or updating an existing voter registration can be processed in person at the SOE's local office or online through the SOE website. Click here for more information.
Vote-by-mail ballots are to be filled out by the registered voter to whom they were issued. The return envelope must be signed and dated per the instructions before being returned by mail. These ballots must be received no later than 7 p.m. on election day, so it is recommended that voters who return their ballots by mail send them at least a week before election day.
Another option for casting a vote-by-mail ballot is to return the completed ballot to a secure ballot intake station located at the SOE office or an early voting location during hours of operation. Vote-by-mail ballots returned through a secured ballot dropbox must be sealed inside the return mail envelope and include the voter’s signature.
Alternatively, voters who requested a vote-by-mail ballot but would like to vote in person during early voting or on election day, may bring their vote-by-mail ballot to their assigned polling locations (or an early voting location), surrender the ballot, and cast an in-person ballot.
How to request a Vote-By-Mail ballot
If you haven’t yet requested a vote-by-mail ballot and would like to do so, the deadline to request that a ballot be mailed is no later than 5 p.m. on the 12th day before the election. The state requires that the Supervisor of Elections must mail the ballot out within two business days after a request but no later than the tenth day before election day.
A Vote-by-mail ballot can be requested online, in person, or by telephone. To learn more about how to submit a request and how to cast your vote by mail, click here.
Manatee County voters who received an incorrect vote-by-mail primary ballot and who do not receive an updated/correct ballot by mid-week should contact the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office at (941) 741-3823.
To register to vote, check registration information, or find information about local races, candidates, voting locations, and election dates, please visit www.votemanatee.com.
