Presidential elections happen every four years, but this time it’s gonna be a little different. Coronavirus has altered our reality and caused us to make many changes in everyday life, but now it has impacted our voting system – a major aspect of our country. 

As you may know, the youth isn’t known to be the best at voting, so what happens when you slap a pandemic on top of it? What will this year’s turnout be? Gen Z has already made a few bold moves, but are they willing to vote by mail? 

Mail-in voting means you have to request your ballot and it will be delivered to you by mail.  Before you request one, you must be registered to vote. If you are not registered to vote yet, you can register here.

Unless specified, according to the Florida Division of Elections (F.D.E.), “a request to receive a vote-by-mail ballot covers all elections through the end of the calendar year for the second ensuing regularly scheduled general election.”

You can request a ballot through multiple ways:

• Online application through your county Supervisor of Elections’ website
• Mailing, emailing, or faxing your Supervisor of Elections
• By calling your Supervisor of Elections

Your request will require important information:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Voter’s signature “(if the request is written and the request is to an address other than the one on file). Note, an exception to this requirement exists for absent uniformed service voters or an overseas voter seeking a vote-by-mail ballot.”

You can also request a ballot for an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, legal guardian). If you do this, you will need:

• The family members’ address
• Their driver’s license number
• Their relation to you
• Their signature if request is written

The deadline to mail in a request is on the 10th day before the election at 5p.m. “ A Supervisor of Elections must mail the ballot out within 2 business days after a request and the last day for a Supervisor to be able to mail out a ballot is 8 days before the election.”

If you request a mail-in ballot, but decide to go to the polls to vote, you should bring the mail-in ballot with you in order for the Supervisor of Elections to confirm that they have not gotten it. If they confirm that they have already received your ballot by mail, you would not be able to vote at the polls.  

Your mail-in ballot must be received by the Supervisor of Elections’ office on Election day by 7p.m.

Of course there may be more instructions once you receive your ballot, but hopefully you now have a general idea of how to get started.

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