Florida mail ballot delays mount

Seminole County election officials issued more than 500 replacement ballots after voters reported delays receiving their mail-in votes. The office in Sanford, Florida, is handling at least 20 phone calls and an equal number of emails daily from residents checking on ballot status.

Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock described one case where a ballot mailed from her office to a local resident took seven days to arrive. She noted that the office has not yet spoken with the U.S. Postal Service about the specific delays. Pennock stated that once ballots are handed to the post office, the county loses control over delivery times.

The issue is not limited to Seminole County. Broward County elections supervisor Joe Scott reported similar complaints from residents. Scott said his own son's ballot took 12 days to travel from Orlando to the Broward County elections office. Monroe County, which includes Key West, has also reported comparable postal delays according to local reports.

Other Central Florida counties do not report widespread problems. Supervisors from Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Volusia counties told News 6 they are not seeing the same level of delays. A postal service spokesperson told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that mail in Broward and Monroe counties was being delivered as received. Scott criticized the Postal Service for lacking transparency compared to past cycles, though Central Florida supervisors did not report issues with local postal liaisons.

Florida law requires vote-by-mail ballots to be in county election offices by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. Overseas ballots are the only exception. With the deadline approaching, voters who have not yet returned their ballots face a tight window.

Pennock advised voters who have not mailed their ballots back that it may be too late to use the mail option. She recommended that these voters go to early voting locations open through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Many locations in Central Florida have secure ballot intake stations for drop-offs.

On Election Day, voters must turn in their mail-in ballots at the county elections office or surrender them at their polling place to vote on a regular ballot. Pennock urged voters who did not receive their mail-in ballots to vote in person to ensure their vote is counted.

Seminole County has issued more than 300 cure affidavit requests to voters with signature mismatches. Voters have until two days after the election to submit the affidavit and identification. The county's vote-by-mail return rate stands at 74%, which exceeds the totals from the 2018 and 2022 election cycles.