Vote-by-Mail Process and Security Facts

Requesting a Vote-by-Mail Ballot

A Vote-by-Mail ballot may be requested for a specific election, or for all elections through the next two general election cycles. A Vote-by-Mail ballot request for a voter may only be made by the voter, the voter's legal guardian, or an immediate family member.
 

"Immediate family" means:

• Child
• Parent
• Sibling
• Grandparent
• Spouse
• Spouse's parent
• Spouse's child
• Spouse's sibling
• Spouse's grandparent

It is illegal for any person to offer or accept any benefit in exchange for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, delivering, or otherwise physically possessing more than two vote-by-mail ballots per election, except as outlined in Florida Statute 104.0616.

 

Processing and Verification

Vote-by-Mail ballots are counted first in an election. In Florida, all Vote-by-Mail ballots are counted if properly completed and go through a signature verification process. This means making sure that the return envelope (Voter’s Certificate) is signed and that the signature matches the signature in the Florida Voter Registration System.

• The Election Reform Bill CS/SB 7066 signed by Governor DeSantis in 2019 requires formal signature matching training for Supervisors of Elections and County Canvassing Board members.

• If there is an issue related to a missing signature or a signature mismatch on the voter's Vote-by-Mail ballot, the voter has until 5:00 p.m. the 2nd day AFTER the election (or Thursday after the election) to cure the signature deficiency.

Florida law requires election supervisors to notify any voter whose signature is missing or does not match our database.

Verified Vote-by-Mail ballots are stored in our vault until the law states they may be opened and counted. Once ballots are removed from their envelopes, they are counted in our high-speed Optical Scan Tabulator (DS850).

Florida law requires election supervisors to conduct a public Logic and Accuracy test on all tabulating equipment BEFORE processing ballots to ensure the equipment is functioning and processing ballots accurately.

 

Checks and Balances: Canvassing Board

In Florida, an elections Canvassing Board (a county judge, county commissioner, and the Supervisor of Elections) is responsible for overseeing all public pretesting of a sample of the tabulation equipment used in an election, examining ballots or groups of ballots, determining voter intent when required by law, compiling election returns, conducting recounts when required by law, determining the official results of an election, certifying an election, and conducting post-election manual audits to check voting system performance.

In addition to the Canvassing Board, the Elections Office has procedures in place for accounting and reconciliation of Vote-by-Mail ballots. Our voter registration system keeps track of the number of Vote-by-Mail requests, Vote-by-Mail ballots mailed, and Vote-by-Mail ballots received and counted.

 

Physical Security

Both our vault and tabulation room are under 24-hour video surveillance and require two-factor authentication for access.

Security cameras capture anyone who enters and exits all areas of our office. Only authorized personnel have access to our vault and tabulation room.

 

Tracking a Vote-by-Mail Ballot

Anyone who votes by mail can track their ballot online through our website, www.lee.vote. Tracking a ballot gives the voter the ability to see when their request was received and when their ballot was mailed, received, and counted.

If there is an issue, such as a missing signature or signature mismatch on the Vote-by-Mail ballot, it will be indicated on the voter's website profile record. The website profile record will provide the voter with information on how to obtain the instructions and forms necessary to remedy the situation.