Saint-Pétersbourg — 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 Jeudi 10 novembre. 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.” 

Les électeurs peuvent suivre eux-mêmes leur bulletin de vote par correspondance en appelant le bureau du superviseur des élections de leur comté ou en utilisant le traqueurs en ligne disponible dans la plupart des comtés.

 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 Dan A. Smith, président du département des sciences politiques de l'Université de Floride et membre du conseil consultatif de 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. 

Étapes à suivre pour corriger un bulletin de vote 

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. Sans guérison, le vote risque de ne pas être comptabilisé. 

Pour résoudre un problème de signature sur leur bulletin de vote par correspondance, les électeurs doivent : 

• Remplir ce formulaire.
• Fournir une copie (ou une photo) des pièces d’identité requises.
• Submit the signed form and copy of identification to their superviseur du bureau des élections du comté par 17h00 jeudi 10 novembre. 
• 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 Bureau du superviseur des élections du comté ou en utilisant le traqueurs en ligne disponible dans la plupart des comtés.

Toute personne ayant des questions peut également appeler ou envoyer un SMS à la hotline non partisane de protection électorale au 866-OUR-VOTE ou au 866-687-8683, pour poser des questions sur le processus ou pour signaler des problèmes.