Record Number Of Voters Expected To Vote By Mail In Hillsborough

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections is preparing to send out more than 350,000 vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 3 general election starting Thursday. That's more than double the number of ballots that went out for the 2016 general election.

On Friday, the elections office sent out the first general election ballots to more than 6,800 absent military and overseas voters.

During the general election, all registered voters in Hillsborough County can cast ballots for president of the United States, U.S. Congress, Florida Senate and House members, county commissioners, sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, school board members and judges. To view the list of those running for office, click here.

As of Monday, there were 914,786 registered voters in Hillsborough County: 359,952 Democrats, 286,680 Republicans and 286,680 affiliated with other parties or with no party affiliation.

Voters have until Oct. 24 to request a ballot be mailed to them, but the office encourages voters to make their vote-by-mail request as soon as possible by visiting the supervisor of elections website or calling 813-744-5900.

"During the primary election, vote by mail made up 68 percent of the vote, so we expect to see a record-breaking number of vote-by-mail requests, and we're prepared for this," said Craig Latimer, supervisor of elections. "We've also secured all the polling locations and poll workers needed for in-person voting."

The supervisor of elections office is encouraging voters to plan to return their vote-by-mail ballots right away. Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by the elections office (not postmarked) no later than 7 p.m. Nov. 3.

Hillsborough County pays the return postage for voters who want to mail in their voted ballots. Voters can also drop their ballot off at secure drop-off boxes throughout the county including the four supervisor of elections offices Oct. 1-18 from 8 to 5 p.m. and the 26 early voting locations Nov. 2-3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The supervisor of elections offices are located at:

• Fred B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 16th floor, Tampa
• Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center, 2514 N. Falkenburg Road, Tampa
• Northwest Regional Office, 4575 Gunn Highway, Tampa
• Southeast Regional Office, 10020 S. U.S. 301, Riverview

The deadline to register to vote in the general election is Oct. 5.

Early voting in Hillsborough County is Oct. 19 to Nov. 1 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Election Day voting will take place Nov. 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

See related stories:

• Raymond James Stadium To Become Early Voting Site
• Amalie Arena To Be Early Voting Site
• FL Primary Results 2020: All Hillsborough Precincts Reporting