West Villages Improvement District: Vote-by-mail ballots going out

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Vote-by-mail ballots going out

Venice Gondolier
Staff Report
September 26, 2019

VENICE - Sarasota County officials announced Wednesday that election officials will start mailing vote-by-mail ballots starting Thursday for the Nov. 5 general elections in Venice.

The office of Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner made the announcement in a news release.

Nearly 5,200 ballots will be set in the mail Thursday; more mailings will continue through Monday, Oct. 28, the news release states.

So far, 71 ballots have been sent to "overseas civilian and military voters," the news release states.

"A voter may submit a vote-by-mail request online at SarasotaVotes.com/VotebyMail or by calling 941-861-8618," the news release states. "Requests for ballots to be mailed domestically must be received by the elections office no later than 5 p.m. on the 10th day before the election (Oct. 26) to allow sufficient time for the ballot to reach the voter and be returned to the elections office in time to be counted."

It notes ballots can be returned through the mail or by person to the Supervisor of Elections office - but must be done by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

"Voters should return their ballots promptly to avoid postal service delays," the news release said.

Voters who request a ballot mailed to an address other than that on file with the state of Florida's Voter Registration System "must submit a signed written request to the elections office," it said. That is the case unless they are uniformed services and civilian voters living overseas

"Turner reminds voters that the signature on the vote-by-mail ballot certificate will be compared to the voter’s signature on file in the elections office for verification purposes. Voters may update their signatures by submitting a Florida Voter Registration Application to the supervisor of elections office. The signature on file at the time the elections office receives the voted ballot will be the signature used to verify the voter’s eligibility."

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate