سانت بطرسبرغ — With a major storm bearing down on Florida, the more than 16,000 Floridians who voted by mail but had their ballots flagged for signature or other issues need to take steps now to ensure their votes are counted. 

Those votes, which make up about 0.6% of all vote-by-mail ballots cast, are at risk of being rejected if voters don’t resolve the issue by 5:00 p.m. on الخميس 10 نوفمبر. This is also the deadline for voters who voted provisional ballots to submit any documentation to make sure their ballot counts.

Complicating things further for these voters is the imminent arrival of Tropical Storm Nicole, which is expected to strengthen to a hurricane when it makes landfall tonight on Florida’s southeastern coast. 

Common Cause Florida joined 19 other members of the Florida Election Protection Coalitions in sending an urgent letter Tuesday night to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Sec. of State Cory Byrd asking for an extension until at least Monday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m.  for the cure deadline given the seriousness of this tropical storm, and the inability some voters may have to cure their ballots given the storm’s timing. Heavy rain and high winds were already hitting parts of southern Florida this morning. 

No response to the letter has been received, as of Wednesday morning. 

“Every vote matters and every voter’s voice deserves to be heard and counted in this and every election,” said Amy Keith, Common Cause Florida’s program director. “That’s why I’m urging Florida voters who voted by mail to check with their supervisor of elections office now to make sure their ballot was received without problems, and take steps to fix any signature issues.” 

يمكن للناخبين تتبع بطاقة الاقتراع الخاصة بهم بالبريد بأنفسهم عن طريق الاتصال بمكتب مشرف الانتخابات في مقاطعتهم أو استخدام متتبعات على الإنترنت متوفر في معظم المقاطعات.

 More than 16,000 Vote-by-Mail Ballots Rejected 

As of Wednesday morning, Florida election officials had flagged 16,026 ballots, or 0.6% of the total ballot cast by mail, according to Florida elections data analyzed by دان أ. سميثرئيس قسم العلوم السياسية بجامعة فلوريدا وعضو المجلس الاستشاري لمنظمة Common Cause Florida. 

Signature issues – either missing signatures on the return envelop or ones that do not match the signature that election official have on file for the voter – made up the bulk of the issues.  

Younger voters were more likely to have issues flagged with their vote-by-mail ballots, with more than 3% of VBM ballots cast by 18-24 year-olds flagged for issues. 

خطوات علاج ورقة الاقتراع 

The 16,000-plus voters with flagged vote-by-mail ballots now have an opportunity to cure, or fix, those ballots, but must do so before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. بدون المعالجة، لا يمكن احتساب الصوت. 

لعلاج مشكلة التوقيع على بطاقة الاقتراع بالبريد، يحتاج الناخبون إلى: 

• إملأ هذا استمارة.
• تقديم نسخة (أو صورة) من نماذج الهوية المطلوبة.
• Submit the signed form and copy of identification to their مكتب مشرف الانتخابات بالمحافظة بواسطة الساعة الخامسة مساءًا يوم الخميس 10 نوفمبر. 
• In most cases, the voter can submit the necessary paperwork by email.

Voters should be contacted by elections officials if there is a problem with their vote-by-mail ballot. However, in the interest of time, Common Cause Florida strongly advises voters to track their mail ballot themselves by calling their مكتب مشرف الانتخابات بالمحافظة أو باستخدام متتبعات على الإنترنت متوفر في معظم المقاطعات.

يمكن لأي شخص لديه أسئلة أيضًا الاتصال أو إرسال رسالة نصية إلى الخط الساخن غير الحزبي لحماية الانتخابات على الرقم 866-OUR-VOTE، أو 866-687-8683، لطرح أسئلة حول العملية أو للإبلاغ عن المشكلات.