Elections offices and early voting sites may be used for drop-offs
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner is asking voters to return their Nov. 3 General Election vote-by-mail ballots early to avoid the rush.
“Procrastination is rarely a good thing,” Turner said in an Oct. 6 news release. “It certainly isn’t when it comes to elections and returning your vote-by-mail ballot,” Turner added. “The longer you wait to return your vote-by-mail ballot,” he pointed out, “the less time you have to ensure that your ballot makes it in time to be counted. Get your ballot to us early and cross that task off your to-do list.”
Turner reminds any voter returning a ballot by mail that the person should place one Forever stamp, or 82 cents in postage, on the envelope and return the ballot no later than Tuesday, Oct. 27, to ensure delivery by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, the release notes.
Additionally, persons may drop off their ballots inside any Sarasota County elections office through Nov. 2, during regular business hours, which are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, the release says. On Nov. 3, the offices will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., it adds.
The elections offices are located as follows:
- Terrace Building — 2001 Adams Lane in downtown Sarasota.
- Robert L. Anderson Administration Center — 4000 S. Tamiami Trail in Venice.
- North Port Village — 14277 S. Tamiami Trail in North Port, a new site.
Further, voters may drop off their ballots on weekends at early voting sites, between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., the release continues. The dates will be Oct. 24, Oct. 25, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
The following 11 early voting locations will be open daily from Oct. 19 through Nov. 1, the release points out:
- The Sarasota, Venice and North Port elections offices (listed above).
- North Sarasota Library — 2801 Newtown Blvd. in Sarasota.
- Fruitville Library — 100 Apex Road in Sarasota.
- Colonial Oaks Park — 5300 Colonial Oaks Blvd. in Sarasota.
- Twin Lakes Park (Community Building) — 5879 Hummingbird Ave. in Sarasota– “NEW!” the release notes.
- Gulf Gate Library — 7112 Curtiss Ave. in Sarasota.
- Osprey Library — 337 N. Tamiami Trail in Osprey.
- Venice Library — 300 Nokomis Ave. S. in Venice.
- Shannon Staub Library — 4675 Career Lane in North Port.
“We know voters can have questions about the vote-by-mail process,” Turner continued in the release, “so, for 2026, we created a page on our website that walks voters through the process of returning their ballot”: SarasotaVotes.gov/Instructions.
While they are there, voters also may track their ballots and sign up for notifications so they can determine when their ballots were requested, sent, received and counted, the release notes.
For more information, visit SarasotaVotes.gov or call 941-861-8618.