If your mail-in ballot is rejected in Florida, here’s how to fix it

So what happens when a mail-in ballot gets flagged as invalid?

Every day, the supervisors of election open hundreds of ballots that arrive in their offices and compare the signatures on the outside of the ballots with those of the signatures on file. Because of a lawsuit, supervisors are now required to give voters a chance to fix any errors, including if they forgot to sign the ballot or the signature doesn’t match with the one on file.

Most supervisors use automated scanning machines that first scan the signature on the mailed ballot. Next, a staff member or a software program compares that electronic image of the signature with that of the signature on file.

If it is considered a match, the ballots gets a final review and will be set aside to be counted.

If the review flags it as not a match, or missing a signature, it will usually go through another review by a supervisor. If they conclude the signature is missing or not matching, the county canvassing board will review it to decide whether they should accept it, or alert the voter to try to fix it.

The law requires that supervisors of elections contact voters who have submitted invalid ballots “as soon as practical” to notify them they can repair, or “cure,” the error.

To fix the ballot, voters may sign an affidavit and return it with a copy of the voter’s identification in a postage-paid envelope, return it by fax, take a photo of the affidavit and ID and send it by email to the supervisor of elections office, or return it in person.

For the first time, voters this year are asked to include either an email address, telephone number or cell phone number to be used if the supervisor needs to reach them.

If the voter included their contact information on the outside of the mailed ballot, the supervisor is expected to reach them that way. If not, the voter may only receive the letter in the mail. (This information provided on the envelope is not public information but is available for candidates and political committees to use to prod voters to return their ballots.)

Because of another lawsuit, voters hoping to cure their ballots now have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 5, have two days after Election Day, to have their affidavit and identification received at the supervisor’s office in order for it to be counted.

Once the affidavit is received, it will be reviewed again by the county’s canvassing board, which makes all decisions about which ballots to reject. It is comprised of three elected officials, typically the county supervisor of elections, a county court judge and a member of the board of county commissioners who is not on the ballot.

This process takes time and there are a record number of mail-in ballots to process this year. If you vote by mail, do it early.

Any voter who has requested a vote-by-mail ballot can track online the status of the ballot through a link within the Division of Elections’ Voter Information Lookup or through their county supervisor of elections website.

For more information, see the Miami-Dade elections office vote-by-mail page.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "If your mail-in ballot is rejected in Florida, here’s how to fix it."