Early Voting Gets Off To Brisk Start In Hillsborough County

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Early voting got off to a brisk start Monday as 1,654 residents eager to cast their votes before the Aug. 18 primary headed to one of 24 early voting locations opened by Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.

Florida law requires that each county offer at least eight days of early voting, but in Hillsborough County, early voting lasts 14 days, from Aug. 3 through Aug. 16.

"We are a large county and I want our voters to have plenty of options, so I always offer the maximum number of days allowed for early voting," said Latimer. "And in these uncertain times, I especially encourage voters to vote as soon as they can. If you get sick, or someone you care for gets sick, you may not be able to vote on Election Day."

Latimer said the busiest early voting sites were the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, Bruton Memorial Library and Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library.

During early voting, voters can go to any of 24 locations to vote. This is different from Election Day voting when voters can only vote in the polling place assigned to their precinct.

All early voting sites in Hillsborough County will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Aug. 16.

Latimer said the elections office has taken extensive measures to ensure the health and safety of in-person voting, and has posted a video preview on the 2020 primary election page of its website.
Only a limited number of people will be allowed inside to ensure social distancing, and surfaces will be cleaned throughout the day. Poll workers are required to wear masks at all times, and face shields or plexiglass barriers will provide additional protection.

Latimer asks that all voters wear masks. The elections office will also have masks on hand to give out.

Every voter will also get a combination stylus/pen to sign in and mark the ballot.

"With ongoing cleaning and limited capacity, in-person voting will go a little slower, but once voters are inside the polling place, they should be able to move through quickly," said Latimer.

Voters should bring a Florida driver's license or other acceptable photo and signature ID for voter check-in. If they forget their ID, they can vote a provisional ballot to be verified by the elections office.

The full list of accepted IDs can be found on the elections website.

Additionally, there will be tents outside each early voting site where voters can drive up and drop off their vote by mail ballot in a secure ballot box if they don't want to put their ballots in the mail.

"The drive-up vote by mail drop-off tents are a contactless way for voters to cast their ballot in person, so I expect this option to be popular," Latimer said. "We've sent out more than 317,000 vote by mail ballots, and we want to see those voted ballots come back in."

As of Monday, 78,938 voters mail-in ballots have been turned into the Supervisor of Elections Office.

Voters can still request a mail ballot online at VoteHillsborough.org or by calling 813-744-5900.

Early voting locations are:

• Apollo Beach Recreation Center, 664 Golf and Sea Blvd., Apollo Beach
• Maureen B Gauzza Public Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa
• SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin
• Northwest Elections Office, 4575 Gunn Highway, Tampa
• Southeast Elections Office, 10020 S. U.S. 301, Riverview
• Temple Terrace Public Library, 202 Bullard Parkway, Temple Terrace
• Town 'N Country Regional Public Library, 7606 Paula Drive, Tampa
• University Area Community Center, 14013 N. 22nd St., Tampa
• West Tampa Branch Library, 2312 W. Union St., Tampa
• USF TECO Hall (David C Anchin Center), 4110 USF Apple Drive, Tampa
• New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd., Tampa
• North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 N. Blvd., Tampa
• Northdale Recreation Center, 15550 Spring Pine Drive, Tampa
• Port Tampa Community Center, 4702 W. McCoy St., Tampa
• Providence West Community Center, 5405 Providence Road, Riverview
• Riverview Branch Library, 10509 Riverview Drive, Riverview
• Robert L Gilder Elections Service Center, 2514 N. Falkenburg Road, Tampa
• Austin Davis Public Library, 17808 Wayne Road, Odessa
• Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave., Tampa
• Jimmie B. Keel Regional Public Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa
• Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico
• Bruton Memorial Library, 302 W. McLendon St., Plant City
• Fred B Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
• C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library, 2607 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa

See related story: Record Numbers Of Hillsborough Residents Expected To Vote By Mail