The Mail Is Too Slow Now: Lee and Collier Voters Must Hand-Deliver Mail Ballots by 7 p.m. Tuesday
Early voting is over and the postmark no longer saves anyone: a mail ballot counts only if the elections office has it in hand by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Here is where to take it — and how Tuesday's precinct voting works.
If your vote-by-mail ballot is still sitting on the counter, the decision has been made for you: do not mail it. Florida counts a mail ballot only when the Supervisor of Elections has received it by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3 — a postmark does not count — and the Lee County elections office mailed out roughly 119,000 of the ballots for this election, according to the Cape Coral Breeze's report on the mailing. Every one of them that is still out has the same deadline now.
Hand-delivery is the safe route, and it is open Monday. Lee County voters can return a completed mail ballot to any Supervisor of Elections office during office hours — Monday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. — or on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., including the Main Office at 2480 Thompson St, 3rd Floor, in Fort Myers and the Lee County Elections Center at 13180 S. Cleveland Ave. In Collier County, ballots go to the Supervisor of Elections office at 3750 Enterprise Ave in Naples by 7 p.m. Tuesday, or to a satellite office by 6 p.m., per the Naples News guide. Note the limit that trips voters up every cycle: a mail ballot cannot be turned in at a precinct polling place on Election Day — surrender it there and vote in person instead, or take it to the elections office.
Voting in person on Tuesday runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and unlike early voting there is no choice of site: Election Day voters must vote at their designated precinct, listed at lee.vote (239-533-8683) for Lee County. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. is entitled to vote. With thunderstorms on Tuesday's forecast for the Fort Myers area, the elections offices' message is the practical one: return the ballot Monday if you can, and leave early if you are voting Tuesday.
