JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Vote-by-mail ballots are on the way to Jacksonville voters as city elections inches closer and closer.
City election officials said 37,000 ballots are going to be sent out Thursday. However, the number of ballots sent out is a lot lower than previous years because voters are now required to request a mail-in ballot.
Chief Elections Officer Robert Phillips said although the numbers have taken a slight decrease, the numbers are still in the “target range.”
“Right now, it’s a little lower than we’re used to. But it’s because all of the vote-by-mail requests sunsetted. So, now everyone has to re-request a vote-by-mail ballot. We had about 43,000 vote-by-mail ballots for the last election that was comparable to this,” Phillips said.
Ebony Davis said she prefers to vote by mail because it’s easier and works with her schedule.
Thursday’s batch of ballots is the first to be distributed, but there are thousands more that have to be sent to voters.
Another issue affecting the election is that many city council district lines have changed, which affects more than a quarter of voters in Jacksonville.
“We did the best we could to keep the polling locations the same so that voters would have a familiarity with it. But that number may have changed. We’re dropping almost 200,000 voter information cards in the mail over the next couple of weeks. So be on the lookout for that,” Phillips said.
Voters can still request to receive a mail-in ballot. Visit duvalelections.com.
Starting Friday, voters can go to the downtown supervisor of elections office and cast a vote-by-mail ballot from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ballots can also be dropped off during that time but not when the office is closed.
If you do not receive your mail-in-ballot soon, call 904-255-8683.
Early voting begins on March 6.