Voter Registration Deadline Approaching In Sarasota County

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Those who want to cast a ballot in the Nov. 8 general and local elections must register to vote by Tuesday’s deadline, according to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office.

Voters will have a say in statewide elections, including the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, as well as local contests.

In Florida, residents must be registered for at least 29 days before they can vote in an election.

Those who aren’t already registered to vote in Florida can do so online at RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov by Oct. 11.

• Stay up-to-date by viewing all Hurricane Ian coverage on Patch here.

Paper voter registration applications can also be found at county elections offices, libraries, military recruitment offices and public assistance offices. They must be completed, signed and returned in person to county elections offices or postmarked by Oct. 11.

To register to vote in the Sunshine State, you must:

• be a United States citizen.
• be a legal Florida resident.
• be 18 years old (you may pre-register to vote if you are 16 years old, though you can’t vote until you’re 18)
• not be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state, without having the right to vote restored.
• not have been convicted of a felony, without your civil rights having been restored.
• provide a current and valid Florida driver’s license number or Florida identification card number or the last four digits of your social security number.

Registered voters in Sarasota County can find their local polling stations on Election Day and sample ballots here.

Voters Impacted by Hurricane Ian

Sarasota County residents who were displaced by Hurricane Ian should prepare now for voting in the Nov. 8 elections, the Supervisor of Elections Office said.

The office reminds residents in this situation that there are three ways to vote:

• in-person during early voting - Oct. 24 through Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• vote-by-mail – deadline to request a ballot is Oct. 29, 5 p.m.
• in-person on Election Day – polls are open Nov. 8, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Residents affected by Hurricane Ian who plan to vote by mail should:

• Visit their local U.S. Postal Service location to see if their mail is being held. Postal locations can be found using the United States Postal Service Location Finder or the Supervisor of Election Office’s prepared list of affected Sarasota County USPS locations and the ZIP codes they service.
• Contact the Supervisor of Elections Office at 941-861-8618 about updating mailing addresses and requesting replacement vote-by-mail ballots.
• Learn about alternate ways of voting if they’re unable to receive a vote-by-mail ballot.

Those who were displaced by Hurricane Ian and are having trouble receiving a vote-by-mail ballot should consider in-person early voting, the Supervisor of Elections Office said.

There are 14 days of early voting from Oct. 24 through Nov. 6. The following polls will be open daily, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., during this early voting period:

Sarasota Elections Office, Terrace Building, 2001 Adams Lane, Sarasota

• Venice Elections Office, R.L. Anderson Admin Center, 4000 S Tamiami Trail, Rm 114, Venice
• North Port Elections Office, Biscayne Plaza, 13640 Tamiami Trail, North Port
• North Sarasota Public Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd., Sarasota
• Fruitville Public Library, 100 Apex Road, Sarasota
• The Devyn Event Center, 7113 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (replaces Sarasota Square Mall early voting site)
• Bee Ridge Park, 4430 S Lockwood Ridge Road, Sarasota
• Venice Public Library, 300 Nokomis Ave. S, Venice
• Shannon Staub Public Library, 4675 Career Lane, North Port

Voters affected by the hurricane can also cast their ballot in person on Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 8.

Residents are assigned a polling location based on their address. Polling locations are listed on your Voter Information Card or can be found using the Find My Precinct quick link on the Supervisor of Elections Office website.