FLORIDA VOTERS GUIDE

Register to Vote or Update your Information

Who Can Register to Vote

In order to register to vote in Florida, you must:

• Be a Citizen of the United States of America (To be a U.S. citizen, you must be born in the United States or certain U.S. territories, be born to U.S. citizen parents, or be naturalized. Although a lawful permanent resident (commonly referred to as a "green card holder") has the right to live and work in the U.S. on a permanent basis, he or she cannot register or vote). Persons who have U.S citizenship and citizenship from another nation can also register and vote in the U.S;
• Be a Florida resident;
• Be 18 years old (You may pre-register to vote if you are 16 years old, but you cannot vote until you are 18 years old);
• Not have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state without having the right to vote restored;
• Not have been convicted of a felony without your civil rights having been restored; and
• Provide your current and valid Florida driver’s license number or Florida identification card number. If you do not have a Florida driver’s license number or a Florida identification card number then you must provide the last four digits of your Social Security Number. If you do not have any of these items, you must write “none” in the box or field.

Where Can I Register to Vote?
You can apply to register to vote in any of the following ways:

• Request or pick-up a Florida Voter Registration Application from your county Supervisor of Elections. Complete, sign and mail the application to the office of your County Supervisor of Elections.
• Fill in the online Voter Registration Application (English PDF / Español PDF) on the Division of Elections' website. Print, sign and mail the application to the office of your County Supervisor of Elections. See the section titled How to Complete and Submit a Voter Registration Application below for further details.
• Apply through any Florida driver's license office or tax collector's office that issues driver's licenses or Florida identification cards.
• Apply through any "voter registration agency" (i.e., any government entity designated by the National Voter Registration Act or state law who must allow you to apply to register) at the same time you obtain new or renewing agency services or update your address for the continued receipt of such services.

These agencies include:

• Any office that provides public assistance (e.g. Department of Children and Families' Food Assistance Program and the Temporary Cash Assistance Program and Department of Health's WIC Program)
• Any office that primarily serves persons with disabilities (e.g., Department of Education's Division of Blind Services and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, any center for independent living, any office within an educational institute that serves persons with disabilities).
• Any military recruitment office (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Marines)
• Any public library
• Obtain a Florida Voter Registration Application form from any entity authorized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to issue permits for fishing, hunting or trapping. Complete, sign and mail the application to your county Supervisor of Elections.

How to Complete and Submit a Voter Registration Application
Fill in the Voter Registration Application (English PDF / Español PDF) online or print the application and write your information in with a black ballpoint pen.

• Print the application.
• Verify that all of the information on your application is complete. The office where you register, your decision not to register, your Social Security Number, your Florida driver’s license number and your Florida identification card number will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes. Your signature can be viewed, but not copied. Other information becomes a public record.
• Sign your application. The application requires an original signature because you are swearing or affirming to an oath. If the information on the application is not true, the applicant can be convicted of a felony of the third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to five years.
• Place the application in an envelope with a first class stamp.
• Mail the application to your county Supervisor of Elections. You may also opt to mail or hand deliver the application to any Supervisor of Elections’ office in the state, a driver’s license office, a voter registration agency including an armed forces recruitment office, public library, or the Division of Elections.
• If your application is complete and you qualify as a voter, the Supervisor of Elections will mail you a voter information card as official notification that you are registered to vote. Make sure all of the information on your card is correct. If you do not receive your card within two weeks, or if you have any questions, call your county Supervisor of Elections. For new applicants, your registration date is the date your completed application is postmarked or hand delivered to any Supervisor of Elections’ office in the state, a driver’s license office, a voter registration agency, including an armed forced recruitment office, public library, or the Division of Elections. Generally, you must be registered for at least 29 days before you can vote in an election.

How to Update Your Voter Registration Record and Replace a Voter Information Card

• If you have already registered to vote in Florida, but need to change your name, address or party affiliation, update your signature, or apply for a replacement card:

• Fill in the Voter Registration Application (English PDF / Español PDF) online. You can print the application and write your information in with a black ballpoint pen. Provide the information that you wish to change or update:
• Party Change (list of Political Parties registered in Florida). You can change your party affiliation by any signed written notice such as a voter registration application. It must include your date of birth or voter registration number. All party changes for a primary election must be made by the registration deadline which is 29 days before the primary election. For a general election, a party change can be made at any time.
• Address Change.
  If you move within a county after you have registered to vote, or move to a new county within Florida, please notify the Supervisor of Elections of the county of your new residence. You may make the change in person, by phone or other electronic means or by other signed, written notice (including the Florida Voter Registration Application (English PDF / Español PDF)). You must provide your date of birth.

Name Change.
If your name changes by marriage or other legal process, submit the change in a signed written notice such as a voter registration application (English PDF / Español PDF). It must include your date of birth or voter registration number.

Signature Update.
You must submit signature updates using the voter registration application (English PDF / Español PDF). In order for the signature updates to be used for signature comparisons in canvassing absentee and provisional ballots, the update must be received before canvassing of absentee ballots begins. Canvassing may begin as early as 15 days before an election.

Card Replacement.
If you have lost your voter information card, you can request that a new card be sent to you by checking the appropriate box on the voter registration application (English PDF / Español PDF).

Print the application.

Sign the application. The application requires an original signature because the applicant is swearing or affirming to an oath. If the information on the application is not true, the applicant can be convicted of a felony of the third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to five years.

Place the application in an envelope with a first class stamp.

Mail the application to your county Supervisor of Elections. You may also opt to mail or hand deliver the application to any Supervisor of Elections office in the state, a driver’s license office, a voter registration a
If the change is made, the Supervisor of Elections will mail you an updated voter information card. Make sure all of the information on your card is correct. If you have any questions, call your county Supervisor of Elections.

Party Affiliation

Florida is a closed primary state. Only voters who are registered members of political parties may vote for respective party candidates for an office in a primary election.

However, there are times when all registered voters can vote in a primary election, regardless of which major or minor political party they are registered or even if they are registered without a specific party affiliation:

If all the candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner of the primary election will not face any opposition in the general election (i.e. no write-in candidates have qualified), then all registered voters can vote for any of the candidates for that office in the primary election.

If races for nonpartisan (i.e., free from party affiliation) judicial and school board offices, nonpartisan special districts or local referendum questions are on the primary election ballot, then all registered voters, including those without party affiliation are entitled to vote those races on the ballot.

At a general election, all registered voters receive the same ballot and may vote for any candidate or question on the ballot. If there are write-in candidates who have qualified for a particular office, a space will be left on the ballot where their name can be written.

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