Florida Florida Statutes

§ 101.65 — Instructions to absent electors

FS § 101.65Ch. 101

Statute text

The supervisor shall enclose with each vote-by-mail ballot separate printed instructions in substantially the following form; however, where the instructions appear in capitalized text, the text of the printed instructions must be in bold font:READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE MARKING BALLOT.1. VERY IMPORTANT. In order to ensure that your vote-by-mail ballot will be counted, it should be completed and returned as soon as possible so that it can reach the supervisor of elections of the county in which your precinct is located no later than 7 p.m. on the day of the election. However, if you are an overseas voter casting a ballot in a presidential preference primary or general election, your vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked or dated no later than the date of the election and received by the supervisor of elections of the county in which you are registered to vote no later than 10 days after the date of the election. Note that the later you return your ballot, the less time you will have to cure any signature deficiencies, which is authorized until 5 p.m. on the 2nd day after the election.2. Mark your ballot in secret as instructed on the ballot. You must mark your own ballot unless you are unable to do so because of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write.3. Mark only the number of candidates or issue choices for a race as indicated on the ballot. If you are allowed to “Vote for One” candidate and you vote for more than one candidate, your vote in that race will not be counted.4. Place your marked ballot in the enclosed secrecy envelope.5. Insert the secrecy envelope into the enclosed mailing envelope which is addressed to the supervisor.6. Seal the mailing envelope and completely fill out the Voter's Certificate on the back of the mailing envelope.7. VERY IMPORTANT. In order for your vote-by-mail ballot to be counted, you must sign your name on the line above (Voter's Signature). A vote-by-mail ballot will be considered illegal and not be counted if the signature on the voter's certificate does not match the signature on record. The signature on file at the time the supervisor of elections in the county in which your precinct is located receives your vote-by-mail ballot is the signature that will be used to verify your signature on the voter's certificate. If you need to update your signature for this election, send your signature update on a voter to $5,000 and imprisoned for up to 5 years. I understand that my failure to sign this certificate invalidates my ballot. (Voter's Signature) (Address) (City/State)

(b)Any elector may challenge an elector seeking to vote early under the provisions of s. 101.111. Any challenged voter must vote a provisional ballot. The canvassing board shall review the ballot and decide the validity of the ballot by majority vote.

(c)The canvass of returns for ballots cast under this subsection shall be substantially the same as votes cast by electors in precincts, as provided in s. 101.5614. History.—s. 17, ch. 98-129; s. 2, ch. 2000-249; s. 55, ch. 2001-40; s. 21, ch. 2003-415; s. 7, ch. (6) Before providing assistance, the supervised voting team shall disclose to the elector that the ballot may be retained to vote at a later time and that the elector has the right to seek assistance in voting from some other person of the elector's choice without the presence of the supervised voting team.

(7)If any elector declines to vote a ballot or is unable to vote a ballot, the supervised voting team shall mark the ballot “refused to vote” or “unable to vote.”

(8)After the ballots have been voted or marked in accordance with the provisions of this section, the supervised voting team shall deliver the ballots to the supervisor of elections, who shall retain them pursuant to s. 101.67.

Legislative history

s. 6, ch. 96-57; s. 5, ch. 2006-197; s. 19, ch. 2016-37; s. 21, ch. 2022-73.