South Florida elections officials are processing a whopping number of mail in ballots -- over 600,000 of them are already cast in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
However, elections officials say some voters are making mistakes that could mean your vote won’t count, but you can fix it before it's too late. It’s a warning to be on the lookout just in case you make an error.
The elections departments now have a way to make sure your vote counts if you forgot to sign the ballots or your signature doesn’t look right.
By Monday night, 58% who wanted one in Miami-Dade had already sent it back, and 60% in Broward have sent theirs in.
“More and more people are voting by mail," said Christina White, Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor.
But sometimes there’s trouble. Elections workers in Miami-Dade Monday took a look at over 62,000 ballots that needed more examination recently. The vast majority were cleared, but the canvassing board went over ballots 165 times where the signatures did not match what’s on file. Another big reason for trouble -- there’s no signature at all.
“The sooner you get it in to our elections department, if there’s any kind of problem with it, give you time to act and to correct it," White said.
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You’ll hear about the problem. The elections department will send you a letter saying there’s an issue, and if you gave them your phone number, you’ll get a text or a phone call, and if you provided an email, keep an eye out on your inbox.
There is a form that you must sign to fix the signature trouble. You need to sign it and provide a copy of an official ID — a driver's license, military or federal ID or passport. If you don’t have one, a bank statement or utility bill will do.
You can hand it to the elections office in person, email or fax it, or mail it back.
However, it must arrive by 5 p.m. two days after the election, so it must be there by Nov. 5.
“If you are somebody who still has your vote-by-mail ballot sitting on your kitchen table, go ahead and get that in to us," White said.
All this has been updated to cut the rate of ballots coming in with the mail that don’t count. It’s estimated about 20,000 votes in South Florida might be rejected.
The other top reason why the don’t count is that they show up late. They must be in the hands of the elections office by the time the polls close next Tuesday.
Click here for Miami-Dade County's vote-by-mail cure affidavit.
Click here for Broward County's.
