Florida Voter Guide 2024
Florida Voter Guide 2024
Key dates, deadlines and changes
Election news and updates are free. For everything else, subscribe.
Last election cycle, two-fifths of Americans voted early or by mail, up from less than one-third in 2018. Experts believed voting by mail, also called absentee voting, would continue to increase over time, given its broad appeal.
However, conservative-run states have been working to smother vote by mail by enacting laws or policies that make the process more difficult.
I’ll be posting information about elections in key battleground states or in races with national implications this week as deadlines for voter registration loom in many states. Today, we’re looking at Florida.
2024 Florida Election Key dates:
October 24: Deadline to request a mail ballot
October 26- November 2: Each county is required to hold in-person early voting October 26 – November 2, 2024, though some counties have longer early voting periods.
October 28: Suggested deadline for mailing your ballot. Mail ballots must be RECEIVED by Supervisor of Elections by 5:00 pm on November 5. PLEASE do not mail your ballot back after October 28. Instead, please use one of the many drop-box locations or other acceptable return locations.
November 5: Election day.
Changes to vote by mail in Florida:
Florida removed all vote by mail requests for every voter in the state last election. Anyone who wants to vote by mail this year must re-request a mail ballot before Oct. 24, 2024.
That request must be renewed for every election now, and the state has removed the ability to request a mail ballot online, though you can make the request by phone, email, mail or in person at your local supervisor of elections office.
Find your local supervisor of elections office here.
Mail ballots must be RECEIVED by your local Supervisor of Elections office by 5:00 pm on November 5. PLEASE do not mail your ballot back after October 28. Instead, please use one of the many drop-box locations or other acceptable return locations.
SIX Ballot Amendments in Florida:
YES on 3, 4, 5.
Vote YES on Ballot Amendment #3, which would legalize recreational/personal use of marijuana.
Vote YES on Ballot Amendment #4, which protects a woman’s right to reproductive healthcare.
Vote YES on amendment #5, which would tie the homestead property tax exemption to inflation, providing much-needed relief to families already burdened with rising home insurance costs.
NO on 1, 2, 6
Vote NO on Amendment #1, which would change Florida’s school board races from non-partisan to partisan. Research shows that liberal ideas are more popular overall than conservative ones, but once the branding on R or D is put on a thought or policy idea, republicans will reject it even if they agree with it. Keeping sanity in Florida’s school district necessitates continued non-partisan elections so that best ideas win, not political clubs.
Vote NO on #2. Amendment #2 establishes hunting and fishing as a constitutional right, which in itself isn’t particularly controversial. However, the amendment would also declare that hunting and fishing are the “preferred means for responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.” Such an amendment would nullify conservation laws that use science and evidence-based methodologies to preserve and protect ecosystems and wildlife.
Vote NO on #6, which would repeal the 1998 voter-passed law that provides public financing for statewide candidates who agree to spending limits. Florida has tried multiple times to repeal the public financing law, the most recent time being in 2010, when the initiative failed to receive the 60% necessary to pass. In a world driven by massive, dark-money contributions, and in a state where Republicans are well-oiled machines of dark financing, public funding levels the playing field.
Who to vote for
Federal Candidates:
US President: Harris/Walz
US Senate: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell*
Florida House 01: Gay Valimont
Florida House 03: Tom Wells
Florida House 10: Maxwell Alejandro Frost
Florida House 14: Kathy Castor
Florida House 19: Kari Lerner
State Candidates:
FL Senate 01: Lisa Newel
FL Senate 03: Daryl Parks
FL Senate 37: Jason Pizzo
FL House 02: Haley Morissette
FL 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney: Andrew Warren
If not listed, vote for the Democrat.
Vote AGAINST anyone on this list: https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Ron_DeSantis
*With reservations. The net good of electing this individual far exceeds the net good of the opponent.
Thank you for speaking truth to power for Florida and exposing the deep corruption of Gov. Ron DiSaster and the Republican Party of Florida. You are awesome!
Thanks Rebecca. It helped to have the ballot amendments explained so I could more easily understand them. I wonder what your reservations are for Mucarsel-Powell?