If you want to vote by mail in the Tuesday’s elections, you have until 5 p.m. today to request an absentee ballot from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.
As of Wednesday, 14,440 absentee ballots had been requested. That’s nearly four times the number of vote by mail ballots returned ahead of the 2007 city elections, which numbered about 4,100, and nearly triple the 2003 election’s 5,000 absentee ballots.
So far, 5,047 voters have returned vote-by-mail ballots to the county’s elections office.
Before this election cycle, registered voters who requested absentee ballots would automatically receive it for all elections in the following two election cycles. Because of recent changes in state law, however, voters need to request them ahead of every election.
So to vote by mail, Tampa voters need to request a ballot by 5 p.m. even if they voted by mail in the Nov. 2 election.
To request a ballot, go to