Florida vote-by-mail: How to track your mail-in ballot for this year’s election

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Millions of Americans are planning to vote by mail this year as a safety precaution during the pandemic. To ensure every voter’s voice is heard, supervisors of elections throughout the Tampa Bay area have set up ballot tracking on their websites.

About 4.7 million Floridians have requested a mail-in ballot this year. That’s compared to the 2.7 million mail-in ballots used to vote in the 2016 election when an additional 616,000 requested mail-in ballots went unused.

Almost 75 percent of voters are expected to mail in their ballots this election cycle, according to a New York Times analysis last month.

In most counties, voters will have to enter their name and date of birth in order to track their ballot online.

Click your county below to go to your county’s ballot tracking page.

• Citrus: Name and date of birth required
• Hardee: Name and date of birth required
• Hernando: Name and date of birth required
• Highlands: Name and date of birth required
• Hillsborough: Name and date of birth required
• Manatee: Name and date of birth required
• Pasco: Name, address required, phone number optional for text updates
• Pinellas: Name and date of birth required
• Polk: Name and date of birth required
• Sarasota: Name and date of birth required

The last day you can register to vote in Florida is Oct. 5. The last day to request a mail ballot in Florida is Oct. 24 at 5 p.m.

Mailed-in ballots must be returned and received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. The Department of State recommends voting and sending your ballot back as soon as you can. You can also return your ballot to secure drop boxes listed on your local elections supervisor’s website.