Preparing for Election Day 2022 in Southwest Florida

Published: Updated:
Voting booth. (Credit: CBS New York)
(Credit: CBS New York)

At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, doors to polling places around Southwest Florida will open for people to cast their ballots. What do you need to know before the primary election?

Voters in Southwest Florida need to know they’ll be voting in several partisan and non-partisan races, meaning political party affiliation will be irrelevant for some of them. Among other things, voters will be voting for commissioners, judges, school board members and several state positions.

More than 15% of registered voters in Lee and Collier counties have already voted ahead of Election Day, either going to an early voting site or sending a mail-in ballot. If you are voting on Tuesday, however, election officials have some tips to make it a quick and easy process.

“We just want to remind voters that there’s a lot on this ballot,” said Trish Robertson, public relations officer for the Collier County Supervisor of Elections. “You can download your own sample ballot, and we encourage you, if you vote in person, to download it, fill out your selections and bring it with you to save time in the polling room. But primaries are just as important as general election, so we want to make sure our voters are out there making their voice heard this election.”

In Collier County, election officials tell WINK News that more than 22,000 Republicans and 10,000 Democrats already voted at an early voting site or with a mail-in ballot.

“If you requested a vote-by-mail ballot and you decide that you don’t want to vote by mail and want to vote early, or even on Election Day, you can bring that vote-by-mail ballot and surrender it and they’ll issue you a new ballot,” Robertson said. “You can also bring your vote-by-mail ballot with you from the comfort of your home, sealed up, sign the back of that vote-by-mail ballot, the voter certificate, and bring it into an early voting location, skip the line and go straight to the secure ballot intake station.”

That station is monitored by an election official and you can drop off your ballot right there.
You have from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to cast your ballot.

For more information on elections in your county, visit these links:

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