Gabrielle Russon
The number of Orange County voters requesting vote-by-mail ballots has plummeted steeply by more than 60% from four years ago, although there is still time for residents to ask for them.
As of Tuesday morning, only 84,083 Orange County residents requested mail-order ballots for the upcoming Aug. 20 Primary. The deadline to put in mail-order ballot requests is 5 p.m. on Aug. 8.
In the 2020 Primary, about 214,555 Orange County voters requested ballots and about 195,935 did so in the 2022 Primary.
Newly appointed Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean reported a surge of requests coming in late June, but acknowledged that the numbers still fell short from previous elections and fit with a bigger trend happening now in Florida. Gilzean’s Office plans to start mailing out the first batch of more than 80,000 ballots Wednesday morning.
“We have observed a statewide decline in vote-by-mail registration. In Orange County, we’ve spent the past few months collaborating with community partners and civic groups to ensure voters are aware that they must request a vote-by-mail ballot by Aug. 8th to meet the deadline for the upcoming Primary election,” Gilzean said in a statement.
“Additionally, we have worked with these community groups to increase the number of election-day precincts and early-voting locations, and to extend the number of days available for early voting.”
The declining requests come following a 2021 state law that added more restrictions on mail-in ballots. Voters are now required to renew their vote-by-mail requests after each federal General Election cycle, among other changes.
In addition to the upcoming deadline to request a mail-order ballot, the deadline to switch parties or to register to vote for the August Primary is July 22.
Early voting runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 5-18 in Orange County.
Gilzean isn’t running for re-election after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to be in charge of Orange County’s elections following his predecessor’s retirement in the middle of his term.
