Additional tips offered to ensure voters’ absentee ballots are counted
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent is reminding voters who request vote-by-mail (absentee) ballots for the Nov. 8 General Election “that they may track their ballots online from the time their requests are received and processed until their voted ballots have safely reached the supervisor of elections office,” a news release says.
The online tracking system also allows voters to check registration status, party affiliation and local polling place information, the release explains. Voters may go to the Supervisor of Elections Office website at www.SarasotaVotes.com and select the “Vote by Mail” icon at the top of the home page. Then choose “Track your Vote-by-Mail Ballot” from the menu and enter the requested information to track your ballot and access other voter information, the release adds.
All requests for vote-by-mail ballots to be mailed to voters must be received by the supervisor of elections no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2, the release points out.
Dent emphasizes in the release that for a ballot to be counted, the voter certificate on the return envelope must be signed by the voter, and the voted ballot must be received in the Supervisor of Elections Office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day. “Marked ballots may not be turned in at a polling place on Election Day,” the release stresses.
Dent also reminds voters that the signature on file at the start of the vote-by-mail ballot canvass is the one that will be used to verify the signature on the voter’s certificate, which accompanies the vote-by-mail ballot, the release continues. A voter who needs to update his or her signature must do so by completing a Florida Voter Registration Application and presenting it to the elections office prior to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26, the release says.
Voters may contact the elections office at 861-8600 or visit www.SarasotaVotes.com for assistance or for more information.