To celebrate National Voter Registration Day, Lee County officials want the voting process to be as painless as possible.
Mail-in ballots have been the preferable option for voters who struggle to visit their voting precincts. However, mail-in voters must register for a ballot regardless of if they voted by mail during a previous election cycle.
Tommy Doyle, Supervisor of Elections in Lee County says half of registered voters vote by mail.
Currently, around 80,000 people have requested mail in ballots.
To encourage a stronger turnout, Lee County will host four registration events as a reminder of the importance of voting and register those who are eligible to vote.
Here are the four registration locations:
- Florida Southwestern State College—8099 College Pkwy.
- The Riverdale Public Library—2421 Buckingham Rd.
- The South County Regional Library—21100 Three Oaks Pkwy.
- The East County Regional Library—881 Gunnery Rd.
Doyle emphasized that regardless of in-person or mail-in voting, the active Florida hurricane season should incentivize a back-up strategy for people who look to exercise their civic duty.
Current requests expire in December 2024. Requests from previous years expired in December 2022.
Fifteen-percent of Lee County residents who regularly vote by mail have resubmitted a mail-in ballot for the next election cycle.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is 12 days before the March primary.