Lee County supervisor of elections says office ready for Florida primaries

Supervisor Tommy Doyle of Lee County Supervisor of Elections wants everyone to know the county elections office has been doing vote-by-mail for years and that this year is no different. But one Lee County woman says she’s upset and even more anxious for what could happen in November.

Connie Bottineli is not thrilled right now. “I never received my ballot for the primary,” she said.

Now, she can’t vote in Tuesday’s Primary. “I feel cheated and really anxious about November,” Bottineli said.

Lee County’s elections website showed that she requested her mail-in ballot. It shows that the supervisor of elections office sent it out on July 14.

“They said it was sent, let’s check your address, everything was correct, so I called the U.S. Postal Service in Washington D.C. They said we can’t track it,” Bottineli said.

She also called her post office in New Jersey, and it said it never went there either.

“I mean, my vote matters,” Bottineli said. “My voice and this election really, really matters to me.”

This November, Connie Bottineli decided she’s taking matters into her own hands. “Nobody is taking this presidential election ballot away from me, so I called the Lee County elections, and I’ve arranged to have my ballot FedExed to me,” she said.

At her own expense, Bottineli is determined to get to vote.

Doyle insists vote-by-mail will not be a problem in Lee County.

“They’re sending ballots to every registered voter, which we don’t do that. We’ve been in touch with our postal service, and we’re in good shape,” Doyle said.

He also added that if you do not trust the mail, you can request a mail-in ballot and drop it off in person. It will still be counted.

Doyle says, if any issues occur regarding your ballot, call his office. WINK News reporter Morgan Rynor sent Doyle Connie’s address and is still waiting to find out what happened.

MORE: Lee County Supervisor of Elections