Today is National Voter Registration Day, and if you live in Florida and you haven’t registered to vote yet in the Nov. 3 general election, there’s good news:

It’s not too late.

The deadline isn’t until Oct. 5.

There’s also still time to request a vote-by-mail ballot from your local Supervisor of Elections Office now that the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Donald Trump’s illegal scheme to disrupt this popular voting method (about one-third of all Americans vote this way).

You can find your local Elections Office in a new section I’ve just created here on the Tropic Press website. It’s called NEWS2USE.

For some time now, I have been planning to create this new feature, the goal of which is to collect the kinds of useful information we all need from time to time in one handy, one-stop information section of the website.

Today seemed like as good a day as any to launch it.

If you navigate to www.Tropic.Press, this newsletter’s website, you’ll find this new section in the menu bar. Or you can go there directly by clicking this link:

NEWS2USE

I’m just now starting to populate it with helpful data, and in honor of National Voter Registration Day, I thought I’d start with election information, as you will see if you navigate to it.

Need to know all the ins and outs of mail-in voting? It’s there.

Need help figuring out how to contact your local Elections Office? There’s a helpful link there.

And so forth.

If you look, you will see it is just in its beginning stages. There are only a few items at the moment. But we will be adding to it.

If you have suggestions for more things you’d like to see there, just drop me a note and let me know.

When I started this newsletter a year ago, one of my goals—a phrase I use from time to time— was to help readers become the smartest people in the room—or the Zoom.

I liked it especially because it rhymed, and that’s about the extent of my poetry skills.

But the underlying sentiment remains.

This is part of fulfilling that goal. And, honestly, it’s as much for my benefit as yours. I’m constantly hunting around the internet for info I need, and this will streamline my own work process as well. I hope you find it as helpful as I will.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

J.C. Bruce

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and,hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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Webpage last updated: January 14, 2026

Vote-by-mail requests must be made to the county Supervisor of Elections in the voter’s county of registration. For information about vote-by-mail for absent stateside military and overseas military and civilians, visit Military and Overseas Voting. For information about accessible voting methods for persons with disabilities, visit Accessible Voting for Persons with Disabilities

Please refer to Election Dates for key dates including the deadline to request a vote-by-mail for the 2026 Primary Election and 2026 General Election. Ballots requested within the 10-day period before an election require a special emergency affidavit to be executed.

How Do I Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot?

A request must be made to the Supervisor of Elections in the county of registration:

• By signed writing, using Form DS-DE 160 (Statewide Vote-by-Mail ballot Request Form) (e.g., mail, online, fax, or as scanned attachment to an email. For online request submission, visit our webpage for county specific links)

• In person or

• By phone

A request must include:

• The voter’s name,

• The voter’s date of birth,

• The voter’s address (A signed written request is required if the address is different that the address on file. An exception exists for absent uniformed service voter or an overseas voter seeking a vote-by-mail ballot.),

• The voter’s Florida driver license, Florida identification card, or last four digits of the voter’s social security number, whichever may be verified in the supervisor’s records, and

• The voter’s signature (if the request is written).

Note: The statewide vote-by-mail ballot request form (Form DS-DE 160) must be used for a written request.

Who Can Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot

The following persons can request a ballot for a voter:

• A voter,

• The voter’s immediate family member (i.e., voter’s spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling),

• The voter’s spouse’s parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling

• The voter’s legal guardian, or

• A designee for a voter with a disability.

If a request is made on behalf of the voter, the following information must also be provided:

• The requestor’s address,

• The requestor’s driver license number, state identification card, or the last four digits of the elector’s social security number (if available),

• The requestor’s relationship to the voter, and

• The requestor’s signature (if the request is written).

Note: The statewide vote-by-mail ballot request form (Form DS-DE 160) must be used for a written request.

What is the Deadline to Request that a Vote-by-Mail Ballot be Mailed?

The deadline to request that a ballot be mailed is no later than 5 p.m. on the 12th day before the election. A Supervisor of Elections must mail the ballot within 2 business days after a request but no later than the 10^th day before election day.

Who Can Pick Up a Vote-by-Mail Ballot?

A voter can pick up their own vote-by-mail ballot at any time once ballots for requests already on file have been mailed, including Election Day.

A voter can designate any person to pick up their ballot. The designee can pick up the ballot once ballots for requests already on file have been mailed. A designee is limited to picking up vote-by-mail ballots for two other voters per election (not including their own ballot and the ballots for immediate family members). An immediate family member refers to the designee’s spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or the designee’s spouse’s parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling.

The designee must submit an affidavit to pick-up the voter’s blank ballot. Form DS-DE 162 is a combination form that includes the affidavit for ballot pick-up, the written authorization for the designee and if a request is not already on record, the voter’s request for a vote-by-mail ballot.

If a voter or designee waits until the start of mandatory early voting or up through Election Day to pick up or have delivered a vote-by-mail ballot, a special affidavit must also be completed. The voter must affirm in the affidavit that an emergency exists that keeps the voter from being able to vote at a designated early voting site in his or her county or at his or her assigned polling place on Election Day. The affidavit is part of Form DS-DE 162.

How Do I Request Another Ballot?

If a ballot is lost or damaged (e.g., not yet arrived or way overdue, return envelope has sealed due to humidity, ballot materials are wet, stained from food, torn, etc.), a voter can request another ballot. Contact your Supervisor of Elections’ office. Contact information is here.

What is the Deadline to Return a Vote-by-Mail Ballot?

A returned voted ballot must be received, regardless of postmark, by the Supervisor of Elections’ office no later than 7:00 pm (local time) on Election Day. A 10-day extension exists for overseas voters only for Presidential Preference Primary and General Elections, provided the ballot is postmarked or dated by Election Day. Untimely received ballots are otherwise not counted.

What is the Recommended Timeline to Return a Vote-by-Mail Ballot?

The United States Postal Service recommends that domestic nonmilitary voters mail back their voted ballots at least one (1) week before the Election Day deadline to account for any unforeseen events or weather issues.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) provides recommended earlier timelines (see timetable at the bottom of FVAP’s website) for absent military and overseas voters. For more information about election mail and the United States Postal Service, visit the webpage on election-mail.

Where Do I Return a Vote-by-Mail Ballot?

A vote-by-mail ballot can be returned by mail or delivered in person. If returned by mail, it can be returned by the United States Postal service or through another private or commercial carrier as long as the ballot is received by the requisite deadline.

A vote-by-mail ballot cannot be returned online, by fax, by email or by fax with one exception. Overseas voters (civilian and military) have the option to return their ballot by mail or by fax. Please visit the webpage Military and Overseas Voting for more information.

Vote-by-mail ballots may also be deposited into secure drop boxes at Supervisors of Elections’ main and branch offices until 7:00 pm (local time) on Election Day. Vote-by-mail ballots may also be deposited at secure drop boxes at designated early voting sites in the county. Visit your county Supervisors of Elections’ website for the locations, days, and hours of all secure drop boxes in the county. Contact information can be found here.

How Do I Cure a Missing or Mismatched Signature on Ballot

A Supervisor of Elections must notify you that your signature is missing from the ballot certificate or does not match the one on record. To correct this issue, the voter must complete a “Vote-by-Mail Ballot Cure” Affidavit (Form DS-DE 139 - English PDF / Español PDF) and include a copy of identification. The form and copy of the ID can be returned by mail, email, fax, or in person. The deadline to submit the form and the ID is no later than 5 p.m. (local time) on the 2nd day after an election. Failure to follow the instructions may cause the ballot not to be counted.

How Do I Track My Request or Ballot Return?

To track online your vote-by-mail ballot, visit our webpage for county-specific links at Vote-by-Mail Ballot Information and Status Lookup.

The United States Postal Service also provides a free online Informed Delivery service that alerts a person as to specific mail that will be delivered that day to the person’s mail box including a requested vote-by-mail ballot

NOTE: If a voter’s registration information is protected pursuant to section 119.071(2), (4), or (5), Florida Statutes, or the voter is a participant in the Attorney General Office’s Address Confidentiality Program, the voter will need to contact the Supervisor of Elections’ office about the status of the vote-by-mail ballot and request.

How to Vote in Person if Ballot Requested

A voter who has requested a vote-by-mail ballot may change his or her mind and vote in person. The voter should bring the ballot (marked or unmarked) to the polls to turn the ballot in and vote a regular ballot. If the voter does not bring the ballot to the polls for whatever reason, the Supervisor of Elections’ office will need to confirm that the ballot has not already been returned and received. If the ballot has not been received, the voter will be allowed to vote a regular ballot.

If it cannot be determined if the ballot has been received, the voter will be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. See section 101.69, Fla. Stat.

If the ballot has been received, the ballot is deemed cast and the voter to have already voted. If the voter believes the office is incorrect for whatever reason, the voter is allowed to vote a provisional ballot. The matter will then be presented to the canvassing board for determination.

When Does a Request for Vote-by-Mail Expire?

A request to receive a vote-by-mail ballot covers all elections from the date a request was submitted through the end of the calendar year for the next ensuing regularly scheduled general election. You can alternatively ask to receive the ballot for specified elections(s) within that period.

A request must then be renewed thereafter if the voter wishes to continue to receive a vote-by-mail ballot after the expiration of each time period thereafter.

If a vote-by-mail ballot is returned undeliverable during any election, it will cancel a request on record. If the voter requests a ballot thereafter, the voter must provide or confirm his or her current residential address before being able to get a ballot.

Find my Elections office

It will take you to a website where you will fill out a few bits of information, such as your city and county, as you can see from the screenshot below, then you will be connected.

The following are the key election dates for registration and voting for the 2026 election cycle. Visit Publications for the Elections Dates-Activities Calendar.

Primary Election 2026

• Deadline to send vote-by-mail ballots to UOCAVA voters: July 4, 2026

• Deadline to send vote-by-mail ballots to domestic voters: July 9 – 16, 2026

• Deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation: July 20, 2026

• Deadline to request that ballot be mailed: August 6, 2026

• Early voting period (mandatory period): August 8 – 15, 2026
  (Contact Supervisor of Elections for optional days of early voting)

• Election Day: August 18, 2026

General Election 2026

• Deadline to send vote-by-mail ballots to UOCAVA voters: September 19, 2026

• Deadline to send vote-by-mail ballots to domestic voters: September 24 2026 – October 1, 2026

• Deadline to register to vote: October 5, 2026

• Deadline to request that ballot be mailed: October 22, 2026

• Early voting period (mandatory period): October 24 – 31, 2026
  (Contact Supervisor of Elections for optional days of early voting)

• Election Day: November 3, 2026