Seminole County issues 500 replacement ballots after mail delays
Election officials report that some voters waited up to 12 days for their vote-by-mail ballots to arrive before the Nov. 3 deadline.
By Lauren Foster ·
More than 500 voters in Seminole County received replacement vote-by-mail ballots after their original envelopes did not arrive on time. Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock said her office in Sanford had to issue these replacements because the initial mailings were delayed by the U.S. Postal Service.
Pennock described one case in which a ballot mailed from her office to a resident in Sanford took seven days to arrive. She reported receiving at least 20 phone calls and an equal number of emails daily from voters asking about the status of their ballots. Voters often asked why their mail ballots had not been received or counted, a problem Pennock called one of the largest issues her office has faced during this election cycle.
The postal delays are not limited to Seminole County. Joe Scott, the elections supervisor for Broward County, said he is hearing from residents about unusually long wait times. He noted that his son’s ballot took 12 days to travel from Orlando to the Broward County elections office. Similar delays have also been reported in Monroe County, which includes Key West.
The timing of these delays creates urgency because Florida requires all domestic vote-by-mail ballots to be in county election offices by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. Overseas ballots have a different deadline, but domestic voters must ensure their ballots are received by the state-imposed cutoff to be counted.
Pennock said she has not yet spoken with the U.S. Postal Service about the specific causes of the slowdowns. She explained that once her office hands ballots over to the post office, she loses control of the delivery process. A USPS spokesperson told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that no issues were being reported in Broward and Monroe counties and that all mail was being delivered as received. However, Scott said USPS was not being transparent with his office and was not working with them as closely as in past years.
In Central Florida, Seminole County is the only county currently reporting these specific mail delivery problems. Supervisors in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Volusia counties told News 6 that they are not seeing similar issues with their local postal service liaisons.
Despite the mail delays, Pennock said turnout in Seminole County has reached 31.52%, which is higher than in 2022. She reported a 74% return rate for vote-by-mail ballots, a figure that exceeds the totals from the 2018 and 2022 election cycles. She advised voters who have not yet mailed their ballots to vote in person during early voting, which runs through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters can also drop off their mail ballots at Secure Ballot Intake Stations at most early voting locations in Central Florida.
Voters who have already mailed their ballots should check the Ballot Trax program to verify that their ballot has been received and accepted. Pennock also urged voters to watch for cure affidavit requests, which may be sent by email, letter, or phone if there is a signature mismatch. More than 300 Seminole County voters have already received these requests. Voters have until two days after the election to submit the completed affidavit and a piece of identification to have their ballot counted.
