How to Vote in the US Midterms: Lee County's Election Eve Checklist

Fort Myers - The two searches sitting directly under the day's top gaming trend on Google's United States list on Monday morning were 'last day to vote' and 'how to vote in the us midterms,' according to the trend trackers the Fort Myers Watch News Trends Watch read this cycle. For Lee County voters, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and the mechanics are fixed: polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Election Day a voter must cast a ballot at the designated polling location on their voter registration - unlike early voting, there is no any-site option on Tuesday.

The ballot waiting at that precinct is a long one. The Lee County Elections office lists federal, state, county and special district offices, state constitutional amendments, and city council contests for Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and the Town of Fort Myers Beach. Voters who are in line at their precinct at 7 p.m. are allowed to vote, and the county's sample ballots and precinct lookup are posted at lee.vote ahead of the morning rush.

For voters still holding a vote-by-mail ballot, Monday is the last full day to act on it - and the mail is no longer the safe route. A ballot received after 7 p.m. on November 3 is ineligible to be counted, the Elections office states. Completed ballots can instead be hand-delivered to a Supervisor of Elections office, and on Election Day five offices - Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, the Lee County Elections Center on South Cleveland Avenue, Lehigh Acres and the Main Office on Thompson Street in Fort Myers - accept them until 7 p.m.

The Elections office, led by Supervisor of Elections Jenna Persons-Mulicka, answers questions at 239-533-8683 during its regular Monday-to-Friday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - which makes Monday the last business day to resolve a registration or precinct question by phone before the polls open Tuesday morning.