More than half of Manatee has voted. You still have time to vote before Election Day

Well over half of the registered voters in Manatee County have already voted in the 2020 general election., according to the Florida Division of Election

As of Saturday morning — and with two days of in-person early voting remaining — of the 273,427 registered voters, 159,031, or 58.2%, had already cast ballots. During pre-election day voting in 2016, about 50.8 of registered voters in Manatee cast their ballots.

Early, in-person voting continues through Sunday at six locations in the county. Election day is Tuesday.

In Manatee, 97,142 residents have used mailed ballots to vote. In the 2016 general election, 68,686 people voted by mail in Manatee County.

Of the mailed ballots that have been returned and those cast early in person, 71,862 belonged to registered Republicans, 53,013 to Democrats and 34,156 to voters with no party affiliation or members of other parties.

Mail ballot deadline

Mailed ballots must be received by the elections office by 7 p.m Tuesday for them to be counted. Ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if postmarked by Election Day, will not be counted.

With Tuesday approaching, it is recommended that you drop off your mail-in ballot at the elections office or an early voting location to ensure your vote is counted, but you must do so before early voting ends on Sunday evening.

Mail-in ballots can be dropped off at the following early voting locations at:

• Florida Department of Transportation Office, 14000 State Road 64 E., Bradenton.
• Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.
• Manatee County Utilities Administration Office, 4410 66th St. W., Bradenton.
• Palmetto Library, 923 Sixth St. W., Palmetto
• Rocky Bluff Library, 6750 U.S. Hwy. 301, Ellenton.
• Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, 600 301 Blvd. W., Bradenton.

You can also bring an un-mailed ballot to your assigned precinct on Election Day and have it invalidated. Once staff has determined your mail-in ballot has not already been counted, you will be allowed to vote in person.

As of Saturday morning, more than 28,000 ballots that had been mailed to voters in Manatee County had not be returned.

You can track your mail-in ballot by visiting the elections office website.

Early voting continues through Sunday evening. Early voting locations are open from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

There will be no voting on Monday before polls open Tuesday morning for the general election. If you are waiting for Election Day to cast your ballot, you must vote at your assigned precinct.

If voting in person, a valid photo identification with signature is required.

This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 11:51 AM.