JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Early voting for Jacksonville’s city elections starts Monday.
One of the biggest races on the ballot is deciding who will be the city’s next mayor.
Duval County residents have two weeks to show up to one of the 19 different early voting locations to cast their ballots in person ahead of election day.
Some of the top issues locals are concerned about, regardless of the part of town they live in, include:
- Crime
- Infrastructure and Downtown Development
- Housing Costs
- Education
These issues are why Wade Grymes is definitely voting.
“Hopefully, they can get crime under control. That would be good. It has been an ongoing issue for many, many years, and nobody seems to be able to get their arms wrapped around it,” Grymes said. “Development, I think it’s really important because obviously this area is growing really fast and we want to make sure that we are taking care of the environment and things like that. Not unbridled development.”
Democrat Donna Deegan and Republican Daniel Davis are mayoral candidates. There is one at-large city council seat open and six other seats available. Voters will also be electing a new Duval County property appraiser.
There was a mayoral forum held Saturday at Springhill Missionary Baptist Church on Harts Road. Deegan participated in that event. There will also be another forum at New4JAX on Wednesday, where Deegan has confirmed to participate. Davis has declined.
So far with voter turnout, a little more than 31,000 people have cast their votes via mail-in ballots. Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan believes there should be way more than that.
“I don’t understand why people don’t vote in every single election, especially in a mayor’s election in a city that is as large as Jacksonville, Florida. I am really disappointed,” Hogan said.
Turnout was only 25% in the March first election.
In order to vote at the polls during early voting or on Election Day, you must show a current and valid picture and signature identification.
Other acceptable forms of photo identification include: '
- Florida driver license
- Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway, Safety and Motor Vehicles
- United States passport
- Debit or credit card
- Military identification
- Student identification
- Retirement center identification
- Neighborhood association identification
- Public assistance identification
- Veteran health identification card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- A license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06, F.S.
- Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government, the state, a county, or municipality
If your photo identification does not contain your signature, you will be required to show an additional form of identification that provides your signature.
If photo and signature ID are not available, the voter will be issued a provisional ballot.
For some FAQs about the election click here.
The deadline is May 6 to request a mail-in ballot. Early voting starts at 10 a.m. at most precincts.
On election day, you can only vote at your precinct.
For information about the candidates and what’s on the ballot, you can visit our Voter’s Guide.