Florida’s election supervisors want to change state law requiring voters to renew their vote-by-mail requests after participation plummeted in last month’s special congressional primaries.
- In the primary for Congressional District 1 — to replace former Rep. Matt Gaetz — requests for vote-by-mail ballots fell nearly 90% compared with the same race last year, supervisors told the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, chaired by Sen. Don Gaetz, on Tuesday. The district saw requests drop from 98,343 in last year’s general election to just 12,392 in the special primary.
In Congressional District 6 — to replace former Rep. Mike Waltz — requests fell by about 75% in Lake County. While nearly 14,000 voters requested mail ballots for the November election, only about 3,300 renewed their requests for the recent special election primary.
WHY? The steep decline stems from a 2021 law passed by Republican lawmakers requiring county elections supervisors to delete vote-by-mail requests every two years instead of every four years.
PROPOSAL: The election supervisors have asked that validated voters who receive a vote-by-mail ballot be allowed to check a box on the return envelope so they can receive future vote-by-mail for the next two-year election cycle.
DIG DEEPER: Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender supports this solution. “We’re asking that there be a way that voters could check a box on the envelope to renew their request for vote-by-mail ballots – instead of me having to send out a postcard, them calling us and redoing it,” Bender explained. “They’ve already been verified, and we know that they’re a live voter because they’re returning their ballot.”
Dave Ramba, executive director of the Florida Supervisors of Elections, highlighted widespread voter confusion about the process at the committee hearing. “These voters three months ago were seeing vote-by-mail ballots for the November election,” Ramba said. “We’ve gotten a lot of complaints about people asking, ‘Why didn’t I receive one in January? Three months ago, I got one for the presidential — now we’re doing a congressional special, and we’re now off the list automatically.'”
- The election supervisors’ push for reform underscores growing concerns about voter access under Florida’s current voting restrictions. Their proposed checkbox solution aims to address the sharp decline in mail ballot participation while maintaining electoral security measures.
