State law now requires voters to request vote-by-mail ballot every election cycle

Voters who are accustomed to getting a vote-by-mail ballot sent to them will have to again formally request one if they haven't already done so this year. That's the result of changes in the state election laws that took effect in January.

Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic said the change canceled the 150,504 active vote-by-mail requests on file in Brevard County at the beginning of 2023. So anyone who wants a vote-by-mail ballot had to file a new request with Bobanic's office.

Requests for vote-by-mail ballots made this year will be good for one general election cycle. That includes the Nov. 7 municipal elections and three elections in 2024 — the March 19 presidential preference primary, the Aug. 20 state and local primaries, and the Nov. 5 general election.

In the 2022 general election, 34.4% of the 269,656 voters voted by mail; 38.6% went to a polling place on Election Day; and 27.0% went to a polling place during the in-person early-voting period.

Bobanic in August mailed a letter to about 70,000 voters who voted by mail in the 2022 general election and who didn't have a new request to get a vote-by-mail ballot on file, informing them of the change in the law.

So far, the office has gotten 41,813 requests from voters seeking to get back on the vote-by-mail mailing list. Of those requests, about 44.6% came from Democrats; 37.7% came from Republicans; and 17.7% came from voters who have no party affiliation or are members of a minor party.

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In the 2022 general election, 46.9% of the Democrats who cast ballots in Brevard chose that option. That compares with 28.0% of Republican, and 32.7% of voters who have no party affiliation or are members of a minor party.

But Bobanic, who is a Republican, said national and state Republican Party officials are now pushing the vote-by-mail and early in-person voting alternatives to GOP voters to get more of them to cast ballots before Election Day through a Bank Your Vote initiative.

"You don't want to score all your touchdowns in the fourth quarter," Bobanic said, in explaining the strategy. "Both parties are pushing it."

Bobanic said voters can request to be put on the vote-by-mail ballot mailing list through the website www.VoteBrevard.gov; by calling the supervisor of elections office at 321-290-8683; or by visiting a supervisor of elections administrative office in Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville or Viera.

To request to vote-by-mail ballot, a voter will need to provide the following information: voter's name; date of birth; residential address; mailing address (if different); and either a Florida driver’s license number or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number.

The last day to request a mail ballot for the Nov. 7 municipal election is Oct. 26. Bobanic said mail ballots for people who already have requested one will be mailed out on Thursday.

There are contested municipal and special district elections in Barefoot Bay, Cape Canaveral, Indian Harbour Beach, Melbourne Beach and Rockledge.

Voting roll list 'maintenance'

In a separate development, voters who have not participated any elections since 2020 ― either by voting or by signing a candidate or referendum petition ― have been removed from the "active" voter list, as a provision of state law the supervisor of elections implemented this year. The office sent affected voters a notice, and took them off the active list if they didn't respond within 30 days.

Bobanic said the mailing went to 47,201 voters.

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Affected voters can return to active status by voting in an upcoming election. But if they don't do so doing the next two cycles, ending with the November 2026 election, they will be removed from the voting rolls entirely and must reregister to vote.

As of Tuesday, there were 418,889 active registered voters in Brevard. That includes 186,993 Republicans; 114,133 Democrats; 106,119 no-party-affiliation voters; and 11,644 members of minor political parties.

Municipal election details

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 7. There will be no in-person early voting, because none of the five jurisdictions holding contested elections opted for that option.

Voters who receive vote-by-mail ballots can either mail them in or drop them in a "secure ballot intake station" at one of the four supervisor of elections offices from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day).

As of Tuesday, there were 40,505 voters registered to vote in one of the five communities holding contested elections, with 19,604 of them in Rockledge.

The last day to register to vote for this election is Oct. 10.

There will be a total of nine polling places, with eight to 10 people working at each polling place. There will be five polling places in Rockledge, and one each in Barefoot Bay, Cape Canaveral, Indian Harbour Beach and Melbourne Beach.

Sample ballots will be mailed to voters later this month.

Voter turnout varies widely for municipal and special district elections. In Brevard, it was 21.8% in 2017, 14.6% in 2019 and 32.1% in 2021.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at [email protected], on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Vote-by-mail rules change to require voter request every election cycle