What happens after you drop off your mail-in ballot?

Every day, millions of people opt to vote by mail instead of going to their polling place, but what happens after you drop off your ballot?

More than 60,000 people have already voted by mail in Collier County.

The supervisor of elections, Melissa Blazier, walked WINK News reporter Valentina LaFranca through the process.

“There are three ways to vote in the state of Florida, and voting by mail is one of those ways,” said Blazier.

You can vote in person, mail in your ballot, or hand deliver it yourself. At the Supervisor of Elections Office on Enterprise Avenue, they set up a drop-off drive-thru to make it even easier.

“It is just as secure as in-person, early voting, and in-person election day voting in the state of Florida,” Blazier explained.

Machines, helped by trained workers, will quickly review your envelopes.

“Once we get that back in the office, one of our staff members actually physically reviews the ballot return envelope, signature to the voters signature on record, which we can have multiple reference signatures within our database, but we validate that that signature matches the signature that we have on record,” said Blazier. “If the signatures match, then we accept that ballot for tabulation.”

The ballots are then divided into three bins:

1. The bottom bin means the ballot has been counted.
2. The middle bin means there is a write-in candidate and workers will tally it by hand.
3. The top bin means something is wrong with the ballot.

Blazier explained, “We actually put it to the side, and then we start doing outreach to that voter so voters are eligible to cure their vote by mail ballots two days after election day.”

Before any of this begins, they do a test in the public view.

“In order to move forward with the election and actually begin tabulating ballots, that logic and accuracy test must be 100% accurate,” she said.

Blazier said the only difference is convenience.

“When you look at vote by mail voting, it’s at the convenience of your own home,” said Blazier. “You know, take your time with your ballot. You know you’re not standing in a voting booth trying to read through amendments and referenda.”

But the clock is ticking, “A vote-by-mail ballot, by law in the state of Florida must be received in the Supervisor of Elections Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.”

The deadline to request a mail-in ballot has passed, and so has the recommended time to mail it in. If you’re still holding onto your envelope and want to make sure your vote counts, drop it off in person.