PRESS RELEASE: Secretary Byrd Announces Polls Open Statewide on General Election Day

PRESS RELEASE: Secretary Byrd Announces Polls Open Statewide on General Election Day

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. -

This morning, Secretary of State Cord Byrd issued the following statement:

"Today is Florida's General Election and is the final chance for Florida's registered voters to cast their ballots. Polls are open across the state and will remain open until 7 p.m., local time," said Secretary of State Cord Byrd. "The Department is standing by to assist Florida's Supervisors of Elections and ensure that voters can receive and cast their ballots according to law. Voters can find more information about Election Day in Florida at dos.fl.gov/elections."

Updates

Counties Impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton: Executive Order 24-212 and Executive Order 24-234 were issued by Governor Ron DeSantis on October 3, 2024 and October 16, 2024 respectively, are still in effect. Secretary Byrd and the Division of Elections are in close communication with the respective Supervisors of Elections in these counties to ensure that provisions of the executive order are followed.

United States Postal Service: The Division of Elections is in communication with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ensure all vote-by-mail ballots that can be delivered are received by Supervisors of Elections offices by the close of the polls at 7 p.m., local time. Leading up to Election Day, the USPS has held hour long bi-weekly bridge calls with Supervisors of Elections to support them and to ensure voters' ballots are timely delivered and timely returned.

Security: The Department is monitoring security statewide. At this time, there are no reported issues.

Turnout: For Election Day hourly voter turnout numbers, please contact the respective county Supervisor of Elections offices. The State will also have a statewide dashboard on voter hourly turn-out.

For other turnout information on Election Day, visit Florida Election Watch or visit your county's respective website. For early voting and vote-by-mail statistics, please visit the Division of Elections Vote-by-Mail Request and Early Voting Reports website.

Election Day Information for Florida Voters

Voting at the Polls on Election Day: The polls are open statewide from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., local time. Any voters waiting in line at 7:00 p.m. will have the opportunity to cast a ballot. Voters must vote at their assigned polling place. Voters can find their assigned polling place by looking at their voter information card, contacting their county Supervisor of Elections or using the Division's county-by-county Voter Precinct Lookup webpage.

ID Requirements at the Polls: By law, all voters must provide a current and valid photo ID at the polls. Any one of the following 12 IDs is acceptable:

• Florida driver's license
• Florida identification card issued by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• United States passport
• Debit or credit card
• Military identification
• Student identification
• Retirement center identification
• Neighborhood association identification
• Public assistance identification
• Veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
• License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm pursuant to s. 790.06 F.S.
• Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government, the state, a county or a municipality.

If the voter's photo ID does not include a signature, the voter will be asked to provide another ID with a signature. If the voter does not bring a proper ID, he or she can still vote a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot will count, provided the voter is eligible, voted in the proper precinct, and the signature on the provisional ballot certificate matches the signature in the voter's registration record.

Vote-by-Mail: Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office no later than 7 p.m., local time, on Election Day to be counted. Additional information for military and overseas voters is available on the Division of Elections website.

Vote-by-Mail Requests on Election Day: If a voter or designee waits until Election Day to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot, the voter must also complete the Affidavit for Vote-by-Mail Ballot Delivery and Emergency Pick-up (DS-DE 162 English PDF/Spanish PDF). The voter must affirm that he or she has an emergency that keeps the voter from voting at his or her assigned polling place.

Election Results & Statistics

Preliminary Election Results: Beginning at 8 p.m., Eastern Time, preliminary unofficial election results for Florida's General Election will be available on the Florida Election Watch website at https://floridaelectionwatch.gov. Although polls close at 7 p.m., local time, Florida has two time zones (Central and Eastern) and results will not be posted to the Florida Election Watch website until 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. County official results for the General Election are due to the Department of State from county canvassing boards no later than noon, November 18.

Early Voting and Vote-by-Mail Ballot Statistics: The Division of Elections is providing daily early voting and vote-by-mail ballot statistics. These statistics are compiled from reports last filed by the Supervisor of Elections for each county. To access these statistics, please visit the Division of Elections Vote-by-Mail Request & Early Voting Statistics webpage.

Bookclosing (Registration Deadline) Reports: On October 7, voter registration books closed for the General Election. The Division of Elections prepares detailed statistical reports on the number of active registered voters as of the day of bookclosing. The reports are available in Excel and PDF format. To access the current and archived bookclosing reports, please visit the Division of Elections website.

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Division of Elections

The Florida Department of State's Division of Elections supports the Secretary of State, Florida's chief election officer, in ensuring that Florida has fair and accurate elections. The Division's program administration and three bureaus: Bureau of Election Records, Bureau of Voter Registration Services, and Bureau of Voting Systems Certification, have several responsibilities in the areas of legal compliance and elections administration to ensure that Florida's election laws are uniformly interpreted and implemented. The Division also assists local Supervisors of Elections in their duties and promotes enhanced public awareness and participation in the electoral process. For more information about Florida's elections, visit dos.fl.gov/elections.

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