Florida voters recall driving through election offices to return vote-by-mail ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they must only drop off those ballots during early voting days and hours if they are not mailing them back. Voters also recall being able to return ballots for their friends in nursing homes or their disabled neighbors. Now, they can only do that for a couple of nonfamily members. >>Read more of WESH 2’s Commitment 2026 coverage by clicking here. The state’s election laws have changed under the administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and those changes have led to voter confusion. “I’ve always voted by mail. I’ve always voted,” said Bethany Myers of Orlando, a noted artist in the community. She considers her right to vote sacred, and her attention to detail, when it comes to casting a ballot, as precise as every stroke of her brush on canvas. So, she was stunned when she went online to check her voter registration and election dates. She told WESH 2 News, “I looked myself up and discovered I no longer had the mail-in ballot voting. It just said nothing. I thought it was shenanigans!” Whatever you might think of it, the vote-by-mail law was changed by the governor and lawmakers under Senate Bill 90, passed in 2021. With its passage, beginning Jan. 1, 2023, voters who want to vote by mail must request a mail-in ballot every two years. An easy way to remember it is vote-by-mail requests expire at the end of every even-numbered year. That means Myers’ vote-by-mail request needed to be renewed for this midterm election. Between painting, Myers has been reminding people on social media and telling her friends to verify their voter status and renew their mail ballot requests if that is the way they prefer to vote, in a state where the voting rules are constantly changing. Myers added, “It’s frustrating to me because I know a lot of people say they’re going to vote, and then something occurs because they didn’t know the date or they didn’t get a ballot in the mail. I just want people to vote. I don’t care who you vote for. Just vote. It’s your right to vote.” Her bottom-line message to every voter is, don’t wait. Check your registration. The deadline to register for the August primary election or change your address or party affiliation is Monday, July 20. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot to be sent to your home is Aug. 6. Supervisors’ offices are training poll workers and staff, making sure they are ready to answer your questions in person, via email and by phone in a matter of minutes. One of the most common questions is: Can I request and return vote-by-mail ballots for other people? The answers: Yes and yes. You can return ballots for immediate family members — but make sure they sign the ballot envelope — and you can return them for up to two nonfamily members.
Florida voters recall driving through election offices to return vote-by-mail ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they must only drop off those ballots during early voting days and hours if they are not mailing them back.
Voters also recall being able to return ballots for their friends in nursing homes or their disabled neighbors. Now, they can only do that for a couple of nonfamily members.
>>Read more of WESH 2’s Commitment 2026 coverage by clicking here.
The state’s election laws have changed under the administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and those changes have led to voter confusion.
“I’ve always voted by mail. I’ve always voted,” said Bethany Myers of Orlando, a noted artist in the community. She considers her right to vote sacred, and her attention to detail, when it comes to casting a ballot, as precise as every stroke of her brush on canvas.
So, she was stunned when she went online to check her voter registration and election dates. She told WESH 2 News, “I looked myself up and discovered I no longer had the mail-in ballot voting. It just said nothing. I thought it was shenanigans!”
Whatever you might think of it, the vote-by-mail law was changed by the governor and lawmakers under Senate Bill 90, passed in 2021. With its passage, beginning Jan. 1, 2023, voters who want to vote by mail must request a mail-in ballot every two years. An easy way to remember it is vote-by-mail requests expire at the end of every even-numbered year. That means Myers’ vote-by-mail request needed to be renewed for this midterm election.
Between painting, Myers has been reminding people on social media and telling her friends to verify their voter status and renew their mail ballot requests if that is the way they prefer to vote, in a state where the voting rules are constantly changing.
Myers added, “It’s frustrating to me because I know a lot of people say they’re going to vote, and then something occurs because they didn’t know the date or they didn’t get a ballot in the mail. I just want people to vote. I don’t care who you vote for. Just vote. It’s your right to vote.”
Her bottom-line message to every voter is, don’t wait. Check your registration. The deadline to register for the August primary election or change your address or party affiliation is Monday, July 20. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot to be sent to your home is Aug. 6.
Supervisors’ offices are training poll workers and staff, making sure they are ready to answer your questions in person, via email and by phone in a matter of minutes.
One of the most common questions is: Can I request and return vote-by-mail ballots for other people?
The answers: Yes and yes. You can return ballots for immediate family members — but make sure they sign the ballot envelope — and you can return them for up to two nonfamily members.
Results : The pro Israel pac who ron desantis and trump pledged to are trying to steal the florida election.
