Florida

Election Day: 

The polls are open on Election Day, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Any voters waiting in line at 7:00 p.m. will have the opportunity to cast a ballot.

For more information visit: https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/for-voters/voting/election-day-voting/.

How to Find Your Polling Place: Use Voter Precinct Lookup – Division of Elections.

A voter must vote in the county in which they reside legally. 

If you have only temporarily relocated due to COVID-19, work, or for another reason, but have no intention of changing your legal permanent residence to that temporary address, you will need to vote in-person at the precinct where you are registered to vote, vote early at any location in the county of legal permanent residence, or obtain a vote-by-mail ballot from the county Supervisor of Elections where you registered to vote. If you have permanently changed your legal residence in Florida, you will vote in your new county and update your address information at the correct polling place for your new address.

Registration Deadlines

• The voter registration deadline for the City of Orlando Mayor and Commissioner for Districts 2, 4 and 6 is Tue Oct 10, 2023.

How to Check Your Registration: Voters can determine whether they are registered to vote at the following link: Am I Registered?.

You are eligible to vote in Florida if you:

• Are a U.S. citizen
• Are a resident of Florida
• Are at least 18 years old by Election Day

You are NOT eligible to vote in Florida if:

• A judge has specifically ruled that you are not able to vote.
• You have been convicted of a felony and have not yet had your civil rights restored.

Restorative Requirements

• For felonies of moral turpitude, you must apply for a formal pardon from the Governor to have your voting rights restored, only after your full sentence is completed, including parole or probation.
• For felonies not involving moral turpitude, if your sentence is completed, including parole, probation, and community supervision, you may register to vote and cast a ballot.

In Florida, in order to register to vote and cast a ballot, you must pay all restitution, fines, or other fees. If you have NOT paid all restitution, fines, or other fees: Your eligibility status is part of an unfolding situation regarding the implementation of Amendment 4. Please seek assistance from the Restore Your Vote hotline by calling (202) 857-0314 or (888) 306-8683 (toll-free) or emailing RestoreYourVote@campaignlegal.org For assistance with fines and fees, contact the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition at 1-877-MY-VOTE-0 or visit: https://floridarrc.com/fines/

You may preregister to vote in Florida

• At the age 16
• At the age of 17

How to register 

• City of Orlando Mayor and Commissioner for Districts 2, 4 and 6
  • Register By: Tue Oct 10, 2023

You must register at least 29 days before the election. Voters can apply to register to vote in any of the following ways: 

In Person

• Request or pick-up a Florida Voter Registration Application from their County Supervisor of Elections. Complete, sign and mail the application to the office of their County Supervisor of Elections. 
• Apply through any Florida driver license office or tax collector’s office that issues driver licenses or Florida identification cards. 
• Apply through any voter registration agency. These agencies include:
  • Any office that provides public assistance (e.g., Department of Children and Families’ Food Assistance Program and the Temporary Cash Assistance Program and Department of Health’s WIC Program);
  • Any office that primarily serves persons with disabilities (e.g., Department of Education’s Division of Blind Services and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, any center for independent living, any office within an educational institute that serves persons with disabilities);
  • Any military recruitment office (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Marines); 
  • Centers for Independent Living; or
  • Any public library. including county libraries and municipal libraries

By Mail

• Fill in the online Voter Registration Application (English  / Español ) on the Division of Elections’ website. Print, sign, and mail the application to the office of your County Supervisor of Elections.
• Obtain a Florida Voter Registration Application form from any county Supervisor of Elections, local library, or entity authorized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to issue permits for fishing, hunting or trapping. Complete, sign, and mail the application to your County Supervisor of Elections.

Online 

Voters with a Florida driver license or Florida identification card issued by the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles may register or update their registration online at https://registertovoteflorida.gov/home

Registration Eligibility Requirements

To register to vote in the state of Florida:

• Voter must be a citizen of the United States;
• Voter must be a legal resident of Florida; 
• Voter must be a legal resident of the county in which they seek to be registered;
• Voter much be at least 18 years old to register and vote;
• Voter must not be a person who has been adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state without having the right to vote restored; and
• Voter must not be a person convicted of a felony without having their right to vote restored. 

Voter Registration

To register to vote in Florida you should provide one of the following:

• Your Florida Driver’s License Number
• Your Florida ID Number

If you do not have these IDs, you may provide:

• Last Four Digits of your Social Security Number

If you do not have any of these identity documents or Social Security Number, you will need to provide a copy of one of the following accepted forms of ID:

• Retirement Center ID
• Valid Employee Photo ID from Federal or State government
• Valid Student ID
• Valid US Passport
• Debit or Credit Card
• Valid Military ID
• Government Issued Document that shows your current name and address
• Utility Bill, Bank Statement, Government Check, or Paycheck that Shows your current name and address
• Public Assistance ID
• Neighborhood Association ID
• Florida ID Card
• License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Firearm

ID is not required if you are 65 or older, have a temporary or permanent physical disability, are a member of the active uniformed services or merchant marine who is absent from the county for active duty, or a spouse or dependent thereof, or are currently living outside the U.S. but otherwise eligible to vote in Florida. You can alternatively show one of these documents when you vote to complete your registration.

Voting In-Person

In Florida, you need to show a valid ID to vote. You can use any ID from this list:

• Valid US Passport
• Valid ID Issued by the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, Transportation, Highway Safety, etc.
• Public Assistance ID
• Valid Military ID
• Valid Florida Driver’s License
• Valid Student ID
• Neighborhood Association ID
• Retirement Center ID
• Debit or Credit Card
• License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Firearm
• Veteran Health ID Issued by US Department of Veterans Affairs

If your ID does not contain a signature and/or photo, you will be asked to show an additional form of ID with a signature and/or photo. If you do not have any of the requested ID documents, you will be provided with a provisional ballot. Your signature on the provisional ballot must match the signature on your voter registration card.

Whether voting during early voting or on Election Day, you must bring a current and valid photo ID with signature. Any one of the following photo IDs will be accepted:

• Florida driver’s license
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• United States passport

• Debit or credit card
• Military identification
• Student identification
• Retirement center identification
• Neighborhood association identification
• Public assistance identification
• Veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
• License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06
• Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government, the state, a county, or a municipality.

If your photo ID does not include your signature, you will be asked to provide another ID that has your signature.

If you do not bring proper ID, you can still vote a provisional ballot. As long as you are eligible and voted in the proper precinct, your provisional ballot will count provided the signature on your provisional ballot matches the signature in your registration record.

To request a vote-by-mail ballot (VBM ballot, a voter must have their valid Florida driver license number, their valid Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of their social security number.  If the voter does not have a Florida driver license or Florida identification card, the voter must submit a completed, hard copy Florida Voter Registration Application form to the voter’s county Supervisor of Elections’ office.  For more information, visit: https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/for-voters/voter-registration/register-to-vote-or-update-your-information/.

If the voter does not have a current and valid picture identification, but claims to be properly registered in the state and eligible to vote at the polling place, they can vote a provisional ballot. A voter casting a provisional ballot has the right to provide additional information supporting their eligibility to vote to the supervisor of elections by 5 p.m. on the second day after the election.

If You Want to Vote Absentee, requests may be made:

• In-Person
• By Mail
• By Fax
• By Email

Absentee Ballots may be returned:

• In-Person
• By Mail

City of Orlando Mayor and Commissioner for Districts 2, 4 and 6

Ballot Request:

• Request to Receive Blank Ballot by Mail by Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:00PM EDT

Ballot Return:

• Tue Nov 7, 2023 7:00PM EST

Voting Early

For the 2022 Elections, registered voters may go in person to an early voting site and vote. Dates and hours of early voting vary by county.  Voters in line at the polls at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Your County’s Supervisor of Elections will also have the specific information for early voting locations on their website at https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/for-voters/voting/early-voting-and-secure-ballot-intake-stations/

Voters who want to vote early should present the following at the early voting site:

• a valid photo identification; and, if the photo identification does not contain a signature,
• a signature identification.

Valid Photo Identification for early voting as well as regular voting includes:

• Florida driver license;
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles;
• United States passport; 
• debit or credit card; 
• military identification; 
• student identification; 
• retirement center identification; 
• neighborhood association identification; 
• public assistance identification; 
• veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; 
• license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06; 
• an employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government, the state, a county, or a municipality.

Please note that, if the picture identification does not contain a signature, you will be asked to provide an additional identification with your signature.

If You Want to Vote Absentee, now known as Vote-By-Mail

As of July 1, 2016, the term “Absentee Ballot” has been changed to “Vote-by-Mail Ballot” in Florida. To vote-by-mail you must request a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot. A request for a VBM ballot may be made in one of the following ways:

• Online application on your County Supervisors of Elections’ website;
• In writing (e.g., by email, fax, mail) to the county Supervisor of Elections;
• In person at Supervisor of Elections; or
• By telephone call to Supervisor of Elections.

If you are making the request, the following information is required:

• The name of the voter for whom the ballot is being requested;
• The voter’s address;
• The voter’s date of birth; 
• The voter’s Florida driver license number, the voter’s identification number, or the last four digits of the voter’s social security number; and
• The voter’s signature (if the request is written).

If an immediate family member or legal guardian is requesting a vote-by-mail ballot for you, the following additional information must be provided:

• The requestor’s name;
• The requestor’s address;
• The requestor’s driver license number, the requestor’s identification number, or the last four digits of the requestor’s social security number (if available);
• The requestor’s relationship to the voter; and
• The requestor’s signature (if the request is written).

Rather than receiving the VBM ballot by mail, a voter can also pick up their Vote-By-Mail ballot in-person from the Supervisor of Elections until 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.  The voter can designate in writing someone to pick up a vote by mail ballot for them on election day or up to 9 days prior, the designee will need to show photo identification and an affidavit (English: https://www.dos.myflorida.com/media/701775/dsde37.pdf;  Español:   https://www.dos.myflorida.com/media/701768/dsde37_spa.pdf).  

However, for a voter or their immediate family member or designee to pick up a VBM ballot on Election Day, they need to sign a form explaining the voter has an emergency preventing them from going to the polling place. This is called an Election Day VBM Ballot Delivery Affidavit. For more information, see the Secretary of State’s VBM webpage, ; English https://dos.myflorida.com/media/693307/dsde136.pdf / Español  https://dos.myflorida.com/media/693308/dsde136_spa.pdf

Please note that the process for returning VBM ballots by a designee is different for voters registered to vote in Miami-Dade County. Please see the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections’ website at this link for additional information: https://www.miamidade.gov/elections/library/instructions/vote-by-mail-ballot-return-policy-en.pdf

The deadline to request that a VBM ballot be mailed is no later than 5 p.m. on the 10th day before the election. Otherwise, a VBM ballot can be requested and picked-up until and including on Election Day, except in Miami-Dade County. 

Instructions will be included with a VBM ballot.  Please follow the instructions carefully. Fill in the appropriate ovals completely and avoid making stray marks on your ballot – they can impact how the ballot is read.  Insert the completed ballot into the security envelope provided with the ballot and seal the security envelope. The insert the security envelope into the return ballot envelope and seal it. Make sure you sign and date the Voter’s Certificate on the return ballot envelope.  The VBM ballot must be returned by mail, delivered to the Supervisor of Elections Office, or deposited at an Early Voting Site Drop Box during the days and hours of operation.  It cannot be emailed. Also:

• You can only vote once.  A person who has requested and returned a VBM ballot to the Supervisor of Elections Office may not go to the polls to vote. 
• If someone votes for more than one candidate in a race (unless it’s a contest in which people are supposed to pick more than one candidate) the vote for that race won’t count. 
• People are allowed to skip a race.
• Turn it over. For most voters, there are races on both sides of ballot pages.
• Keep them separate. If more than one mail ballot comes to a household, they should be kept separate. Unique bar codes are on each envelope and if two spouses sign each other’s envelopes that causes problems.
• Stuck envelope problem. If your ballot arrived with the return envelopes stuck shut because of humidity, it can be opened, initialed, and taped shut to return. The most important thing is the signature.

Generally, if a domestic Florida voter requests a VBM ballot be mailed to an address other than the address on file in the Florida Voter Registration System, they can do so only in writing, with their signature, the voter’s Florida driver license number, the voter’s Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of the voter’s social security number, which can be faxed or emailed to the Supervisor of Elections. For more information visit http://dos.myflorida.com/elections/for-voters/voting/vote-by-mail/. 

Voters who have moved within Florida do not need to re-register to vote, but they do need to update their address on their voter registration record.

• Voters with a Florida Driver License or Florida ID may register or update their registration online at https://registertovoteflorida.gov/home.  

Moving within the Same County

The voter may cast a regular ballot at their NEW polling place after completing an address change verification form or new voter registration form. This may be done at the NEW polling place.

Moving Between Counties If the voter’s NEW county uses an electronic poll book, or if the voter is an active uniformed services voter (or member of a service-member’s family), the voter may cast a regular ballot at their NEW polling place after completing an address change verification at the NEW polling place. In all other circumstances, the voter must vote a provisional ballot at the correct precinct in their NEW county.  A voter should NOT be directed to the polling place for their previous residence address.

October 11, 2022 is the voter registration deadline for November 2022 elections.

Voting Military

Service members and their dependents may register and request a ballot using the federal voter registration/ballot request form (“FPCA”). You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

• Valid Florida Driver’s License
• U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID
• Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
• Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number

Voting Overseas

U.S. citizens living overseas may register and request a ballot using the overseas voter registration/ballot request form. You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

• Valid Florida Driver’s License
• U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID
• Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
• Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number

Absent uniformed service members (and their eligible dependents) and U.S. citizens living outside the U.S. are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act. They can register to vote online or get step-by-step assistance and forms at http://www.fvap.gov/. Military and Overseas voters can both register to vote and request a ballot using the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) at https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Forms/fpca2013.pdf.  Military and overseas voters may request a ballot by telephone, mail, email, or fax, and may choose to receive the blank ballot by mail, email, or fax. Voted ballots must be returned by mail, or by fax – fax return is only for voters who are outside of the US, not stateside. See more information at https://www.fvap.gov/guide/chapter2/florida. Vote-by-mail ballots cast by uniformed and overseas voters during a presidential preference primary or general election must be postmarked or dated no later than Election Day and received by the Supervisor of Elections no later than ten (10) days after election day.

A military or Vote-by-Mail voter who makes a timely ballot request but does not receive a ballot may use the emergency federal write-in Military absentee ballot for any state, federal, or local election. This is available online at https://www.fvap.gov/fwab-privacy-notice or as a pdf at https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Forms/fwab.pdf. A military or overseas voter who submits an emergency write in ballot but later receives their official ballot in the mail may complete the official ballot and should make “every reasonable effort” to inform the supervisor of elections that they are submitting a second ballot. If the official ballot is received on time, the write-in ballot will be invalidated and the official ballot will be counted. Military and overseas voters may check the status of their ballot at https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/CheckVoterStatus or with their county’s Supervisor of Elections. 

Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot

If you are an absent stateside or overseas uniformed services personnel or spouse or dependent absent because of the uniformed services personnel or an overseas U.S. citizen, you can use the emergency back-up ballot known as the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).  It can be used to vote in any election for federal office and any state or local election. FWAB ballots and directions can be found at https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Forms/fwab2013.pdf.

Persons convicted of misdemeanors or infractions can register and vote as long as they are otherwise eligible to vote.

• If a person is currently in jail serving a sentence for a misdemeanor conviction or is a pretrial detainee who is otherwise eligible to register and vote in Florida, they may register and vote by mail from jail.

Persons with felony convictions for murder or a sexual offense are ineligible to vote in Florida unless and until their right to vote is restored by the State Clemency Board.

Persons with felony convictions other than for murder or a sexual offense must complete all terms of their sentence (e.g., prison, probation, parole, and other forms of supervision), and pay off all court-imposed fines, fees, and restitution in advance of having their rights restored.

• Persons who have unpaid fines, fees, or restitution associated with their felony convictions are not eligible to vote.

• Persons who are on parole or probation are not eligible to vote

• Persons who are currently in jail serving their sentence for a felony conviction are not eligible to vote.

• Persons who do not have unpaid fines, fees, or restitution associated with their felony convictions are eligible to vote.  

Persons who do not know if they have unpaid fines, fees, or restitution associated with their felony convictions can request this information from:

• The clerk of the court in the jurisdiction(s) in which you were convicted, whether that is a circuit court in Florida, a court in another state, or a federal court; and/or

• The Florida Division of Elections — You can write a letter to the Florida Division of Elections making a Request for an Advisory Opinion containing:

• the amount of any fines, fees, or restitution that must be paid to make them eligible to vote;

• an explanation of how the amount was calculated; and 

• which entities they are responsible for providing payment to and the amount, and mail it to:

Florida Department of State, Division of Elections

Director’s Office

Room 316, R. A. Gray Building

500 South Bronough Street

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250

Note that the Florida Division of Elections may not respond to inquiries in a timely fashion, and the voter should not rely on their non-response as an indication that they do not have any outstanding fines, fees, or restitution.

If a person was convicted of a felony in another state outside of Florida, the person is eligible to vote if their rights were restored under that state’s laws or under Florida law.  A misdemeanor conviction in another state does not make a person ineligible to vote in Florida.

For more information on eligibility to vote after a felony conviction, visit the following webpage on the Florida Division of Elections website: https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/for-voters/voter-registration/constitutional-amendment-4felon-voting-rights/. 

If a person does not know whether they are eligible to vote due to a past felony conviction, they can contact the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition at 877-MY-VOTE-0 (1-877-698-6830)