JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County continues to set a record for the number of mail-in ballots that have been submitted this early in the election process.
More than 58,000 ballots have already been received and are ready to be counted.
News4Jax has also learned there is at least 478 vote-by-mail ballots in question because the signatures don’t match what’s on file in the elections office.
Those ballots can still be counted once the signature can be verified.
Voter Alea Tukes was dropping off her ballot at the Supervisor of Elections office in downtown Jacksonville on Tuesday morning. She says she knows her signature has changed over the years.
“I haven’t done anything about it. I just try to match it up based on my driver’s license is when I’m signing for the ballot,” Tukes said.
When signatures don’t match, voters get a notice from the supervisor’s office which gives them an opportunity to correct it before the ballot is counted.
So far 478 notices have been mailed out to those voters.
Some voters are also getting calls about the problem from the Democratic and Republican parties.
News4Jax heard from one of those voters who did not want to be identified. He said he was called by a representative of the Joe Biden campaign.
“I was very surprised, yes. But I was also impressed that they were on top of that,” the caller said.
He added it was kind of confusing because when he checked the Supervisor of Elections website he found there was no problem with his ballot and he did not have to do anything.
“They have access to a lot of the information that they might not should have access to,” he said.
Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan says by law that information has to be shared with the parties and candidates but no one else.
“If you get a notice other than from us it’s not official and I would discount it. You can always go online to make sure by tracking your ballot at our website,” Hogan said.
The local heads of both parties told News4Jax they do notify voters if there is a signature problem and in some cases, that problem may have already been resolved prior to their call.
To avoid the problems with your signature altogether you can go to the Supervisor of Elections Office in your county and check to verify your signature to see if it’s changed from the signature that is on file.
You will need to have an ID and you can’t do that online.
Voters should do that prior to requesting a vote by mail ballot.