Election Day in Lee County: Polls Open 7 to 7 Tuesday, Mail Ballots Go to the Elections Office — Not Your Polling Place
The Lee County Supervisor of Elections posted its final reminders Monday night: be in line by 7 p.m., bring unexpired photo-and-signature ID, vote at your assigned precinct — and if your mail ballot is still in your hand Tuesday, it belongs at an Elections office by 7 p.m., because polling places cannot take it. First unofficial results post shortly after the polls close.
It is the last night of the long campaign, and the Lee County Supervisor of Elections' homepage says so in so many words: 'Election Day is Tomorrow!' Polls across Lee County open Tuesday, November 3, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and any voter in line by 7 p.m. will cast a ballot. Election Day voting happens at your assigned precinct — not at any early-voting site — and the elections office's interactive precinct finder and sample-ballot tools are the fastest way to confirm where you go and exactly what your ballot looks like before you get there.
Two mechanics trip up voters every cycle, and the office flagged both. First, identification: Florida law requires a valid photo-and-signature ID at the polls, and the photo ID must not be expired. Second, mail ballots: a Vote-by-Mail ballot may be returned to any Supervisor of Elections office until 7:00 p.m. on Election Day — but it may NOT be returned to your polling place. A voter who brings a mail ballot to the polls has a different option: surrender it there and vote in person instead. Voters who need a ride have one: the Haitian-American Community Coalition of SW Florida is offering free transportation to the polls regardless of party affiliation, with reservations at 239-202-8955 during office hours; riders should bring a valid photo ID with their signature.
When the polls close, the counting becomes the news. The elections office will release and post preliminary, unofficial local results on election night shortly after 7:00 p.m., the first read on a ballot that decides the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat, county commission and school board runoffs, city races from Fort Myers to Cape Coral, a stack of state amendments and the small referendums — like Tuesday's mosquito-district merger — that only the voters who show up will settle. Registration for this election closed October 5; Tuesday belongs to the registered. Be in line by seven.
