When, Where To Vote In Miami On Election Day; Meet Miami City Commission Candidates

MIAMI, FL — Miami residents head to the polls Tuesday – Election Day – to select their next mayor and two city commissioners. They’ll also vote on a charter amendment regarding the lease and development of Virginia Key Marina.

Here’s everything you need to know about voting in the city’s 2021 general elections and your local city commission candidates.

How to Vote in Miami

If you’re a registered voter in Florida, there are three ways to vote: by mail, early and in person on Election Day.

If you haven’t already requested a vote-by-mail ballot for the 2021 elections, it’s too late. (Though you can still request a vote-by-mail ballot for 2022.) It's also too late for you to drop your ballot in the mail and expect it to be received in time or to drop it off at early voting locations.

But if you already have a vote-by-mail ballot, there's still time for you to drop it off at the Miami-Dade Elections Department at 2700 NW 87th Ave. in Miami during business hours.

You can’t drop your ballot off at your precinct on Election Day. You can track your ballot here. Learn more about voting by mail in Miami-Dade County here.

Early voting started Oct. 22 and ended in Miami Sunday.

Those voting in person on Election Day must do so at their assigned voting location. Find your voting precinct here.

A complete list of polling places can be found here. All precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To vote in person, you must bring a valid ID with your name, photo and signature. Acceptable forms of ID include a Florida driver’s license, a Florida ID card, a U.S. passport, a debit or credit card, a military ID, student ID, a retirement center ID, a public assistance ID, a Florida concealed-weapon license ID, veteran health ID cards or a government-issued employee ID.

Miami City Commission Candidates

Voters will select Miami’s next mayor, as well as commissioners in districts 3 and 5, in the 2021 general municipal election.

Six candidates are vying for the role, including incumbent Francis X. Suarez. Here are the candidates running for mayor:

• Anthony Melvin Dutrow: Though he doesn’t have much of an internet footprint, according to Ballotpedia, Dutrow ran as an independent candidate to represent Florida’s district 20 in the U.S. House.
• Marie Frantz Exantus: According to Ballotpedia, this candidate’s primary goals if elected are to raise minimum wage to $25, bail out small businesses, and build better relationships between neighborhoods and law enforcement.
• Mayra Joli: This immigration attorney. specializes in detention and removal proceedings, is president and CEO of the Joli Law Firm, PLLC. According to her campaign’s Twitter feed, she supports the free market, individual rights and justice, empowering families, helping small business, and stopping overdevelopment.
• Maxwell Manuel Martinez: This entrepreneur’s main priorities are affordable housing, anti-oppression and inclusion, public transportation and traffic, environmental issues, investing in Miami’s youth and crime prevention, according to his website.
• Francisco “Frank” Pichel: This former police officer previously served as chair of the city’s code enforcement board and ran for the city commission’s district one seat, according to the New Tropic. He’s facing felony charges for impersonating a police officer while in the Florida Keys at the end of September, according to the Miami Herald.
• Francis X. Suarez: An attorney and son of former a former mayor, Xavier Suarez, incumbent Francis X. Suarez is a former commissioner and was elected to the role of mayor in 2017 with 86 percent of the vote, according to his biography on the city website.

The following candidates, including incumbent Joe Carollo, are vying for the city commission’s district 3 seat:

• Joe Carollo
• Andriana Oliva
• Quinn Smith
• Miguel Soliman

The following candidates, including incumbent Jeffrey Watson, are running for the city commission’s district 5 seat:

• Francois Alexandre
• Zico Fremont
• Michael A. Hepburn
• Christine King
• Revran Shoshana Lincoln
• Stephanie S. Thomas
• Jeffrey Watson

Voters will also decide on a proposed charter amendment for the lease and development of Virginia Key Marina.

If approved, the charter would be amended to allow the city to waive competitive bidding and to negotiate and execute a 75-year waterfront lease of about 27 acres on Rickenbacker Causeway with Biscayne Marine Partners LLC. The lease would call for a minimum $115 million tenant capital investment, $2.75 million annual rent (with 10 percent set aside for the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust), 6 percent gross boat storage and fuel revenues, and 4 percent gross revenues from other sources.