JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In less than a month, mail-in ballots will be delivered to voters who have requested them for the November election.
According to records as of Friday, over 125,000 mail-in ballots had been requested in Northeast Florida.
Some advocacy groups have been calling for Mike Hogan, the Duval County elections supervisor, and other elections supervisors to make changes in the mail process. Mone’ Holder, with the New Florida Majority, says she and other groups would like to see applications for mail ballots sent to each local voter directly without requesting it.
“I think we want to make sure we’re creating access to the ballot box and not barriers,” Holder said.
In July, Hogan sent out more than 264,000 postcards to voters laying out the options on how to vote by mail. He does not plan to send those out again before November.
News4Jax talked to Betty Davis, a Duval County voter. She said she believes vote by mail is important, but she will drop off her ballot instead of mailing it because it’s the only way that she knows her ballot will be counted.
Hogan showed News4jax Friday a number of ballots returned to late for the last primary election in Duval -- approximately 900 votes, which were not counted.
Hogan says the best advice he can offer: Once the mail ballots are sent out, return them as quickly as possible.
“Especially in this election. You need to turn it right back around,” Hogan said.
The News4Jax I-TEAM is putting that to the test, mailing 100 letters across town to see how long it takes to get to their destination. Tarik Minor is leading the experiment, making sure the envelopes look and feel the same as a mail-in ballot would.