Don’t forget to request mail ballots from election supervisors this week
2-23-25 Orlando Sentinel
By Gina Hall
Nancy Albright is a passionate American citizen who cherishes her right to vote. But, since she now walks with a walker and cannot drive, it’s quite a chore to get to her Winter Park voting booth.
“I used to love going to vote,” she says. “But now, thank heavens, I can use Vote by Mail. It’s a welcomed necessity for me and many others that allows us to vote with independence and dignity.”
As soon as she mailed in her ballot for last November’s election, Albright renewed her Vote by Mail status, which she knew would expire Dec. 31.And then she wrote 500 postcards urging others to renew, too. A reminder is helpful, because the changed law apparently confused some voters: In 2020, 40 percent of Orange County voters used vote-by-mail, versus only 22 percent in 2024, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office.
Be like Nancy Albright. If you want to vote by mail, now is the time to renew your Vote by Mail status with your Supervisor of Elections (SOE).
In Orange County, be sure your SOE receives your request before Feb. 27, if you want to vote by mail in the March 11 local elections in Belle Isle, Maitland, Ocoee, Windermere and Winter Park. Orange County residents can renew through their Supervisor of Elections, at ocfelections.com. Beyond Orange County, other Florida counties have SOEs, too.
You have other options to vote in Orange County, of course, including same-day voting in your precinct and early voting at specific sites, all detailed on the Supervisor of Elections website or by phone.
If you thought you didn’t need to renew vote-by-mail again this year, you have a lot of company with other similarly confused would-be voters. Many people don’t know that their Vote by Mail reservation was deleted Dec. 31, 2024, after the general election, thanks to a 2021 change in Florida law. And, despite the popularity of mail-in balloting, the voting numbers took a huge dive after the new law required voters to renew every two years. If some legislator intended to suppress the vote with the 2021 law, it’s working.
In Orange County, in 2020, before the change in the state law, 40% of voters signed up for ballots; after the state law, that number dropped to 22%, according to Scott Hottenstein, director of outreach and education for the Orange County Supervisor of Elections. Of those who request Vote by Mail ballots, 93% follow through to vote. “So, if you request a Vote by Mail ballot, you are going to vote,” Hottenstein said.
The Florida association of supervisors of elections is advocating a change in the law again to make it easier for people to vote by mail.
“There’s no reason for it to expire after two years,” says the Rev. Kathy Schmitz, president of the Orange County League of Women Voters. “That just adds another barrier for our voters, and we’re all about removing barriers to voting.
“People are confused about why the Legislature would make it harder for people to vote,” she said. “Vote-by-mail is a really convenient way to vote. It’s secure and safe, and it ensures that people who have busy lives can vote, even if they aren’t always available on a Tuesday.”
“If you sign up for vote by mail, you may still vote in person,” said Scott Hottenstein of the SOE office.
“In the 2024 general election, 90 percent of voters who requested VBM and voted, voted by mail. And 1 out of 10 VBM voters voted in person.”
Gina Hall is co-chair of the Voter Services Committee of
the League of Women Voters of Orange County.