“Most important election of your life”—that’s how activists describe the November election, and millions of energized people agree. But, errors could prevent any of us from successfully casting votes even if we voted in the primaries. I have five suggestions to help preserve your voting rights:
(1) If you’re already registered to vote, double-check your status with your county’s election office well before Oct. 9. (2) If you’re registering for the first time, (a) do it well before Oct. 9 and (b) go through your county’s election office. (3) Check your polling place location before you vote. (4) If you need to vote by mail, be proactive and follow up. (5) Update your contact information with the county election office. Here are the whys and hows:
Voter Registration Issues
Florida law requires us to be registered by Oct. 9 to vote in this November’s election.
If you’ve already registered, double-check your status through your county election office. This will give you time to re-register if you were mistakenly removed, or “purged,” from the voter rolls. If you’re not registered yet, register through your county’s election office soon so you’ll have time to deal with any glitches.
You might want to photograph the computer screen containing your registration info, so you’ll have it on hand.
I suggest dealing with your county’s election office (instead of the state office) because county offices work more directly with county voter rolls. Find your county office by Googling “Election Supervisor” + your county + “Florida.”
Why the need to be proactive? Because Florida’s voter-purging process has been a bit error-prone for years now. For details, Google the term “Florida voter purge errors.”
Long story short, since the election of 2000, thousands of eligible voters have been mistakenly purged from Florida’s voter rolls, and they didn’t find out until Election Day.
Too late. They weren’t registered anymore, and Florida’s deadline to re-register was 29 days before the election. Election offices may send notices to voters who are flagged for purging. What if you were flagged and the notice went to last year’s apartment? What if the notice comes to the right address but is thrown away with junk mail?
You’d probably be purged, and you wouldn’t find out until you tried to vote. Why risk being denied the right to vote, when it’s so easy to check your registration?
Checking Your Polling Place Location
Polling places can change from election to election. If you go to the wrong place, you could drive to the right one and wait in line again. But why risk wasting time when you can easily check the location in advance? Check your polling place location through your county’s election office’s website. Photograph the screen so you have the address on hand. If you don’t find answers online, email or call the election office, and persistently follow up.
Voting By Mail
When you vote by mail using an absentee ballot, your ballot signature is checked against your signature on file. If the signatures don’t match, your ballot could be invalidated.Signatures can differ: Mine does when I’m in a rush versus not. The election office might send a notice if your absentee ballot is challenged, but what if the notice gets thrown out with junk mail? If you need to vote by mail—
(1) Update your signature in advance with your local election office. (2) Submit the absentee ballot a couple weeks before the election, so there’s time to learn about and deal with problems. (3) Follow up and watch for notices from the election office.
Updating Your Contact Information
If there are problems relating to your voting rights, you’ll need to be notified so you can solve them. Make sure that your mailing address and other contact information are updated with your county’s election office. If you don’t find a page online for updating, try emailing the office. And, as with other efforts, persistently follow up.
Deborah Cupples is a master legal skills professor at UF Levin College of Law and author of the nonpartisan book, “It Is About You: How American Government Works and How to Help Fix It.”
