Florida voters face mail ballot deadline ahead of midterm elections

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

With the primary for the governor's race and congressional midterms less than four months away, Florida voters are being reminded to act quickly to request mail ballots, as state law requires all previous requests to be purged after each general election.

In Lee County, just over 40,000 of nearly half a million voters have requested mail ballots so far. Collier and Charlotte counties have only around 20,000 requests each, meaning the vast majority of voters will need to vote in person.

Rasheedah Shaheed of Fort Myers said she prefers voting in person.

"I guess I'm old-fashioned. I do really like to show up and get the full voter experience and wait in the lines," she said.

However, she acknowledged that voting in person can be challenging for some.

"Very difficult for a lot of people, honestly, the disabled. That came straight to mind," Shaheed said.

Jade Spivey of Lehigh Acres expressed frustration with the process.

"It's just making it harder and harder. I don't know how much harder it could get from here," Spivey said. "I feel like it's a way to strip a lot of votes."

Bernie Feliciano, chief deputy with the Lee County Supervisor of Elections Office, said postcards have been sent out urging voters to request mail ballots, similar to efforts in Charlotte and Collier counties.

"It's good to have your ballot in the event that something were to happen and you weren't able to go to early voting or weren't able to make it to the polls on Election Day," Feliciano said.

Feliciano noted that if more voters don’t request mail ballots, Election Day could see lines reminiscent of 2012, when polling locations experienced significant wait times.

Under Florida law, mail ballot requests will expire at the end of this year, meaning voters will need to reapply for the next election cycle. Voters can request mail ballots by calling their supervisor's office, applying online, or visiting the office in person.

DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.