DeSantis Extends Early Voting, Makes Other Accommodations for Voters in Areas Severely Impacted by Ian

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order to help ensure ballot access for voters in counties severely affected by Hurricane Ian.

The order allows the Supervisors of Elections in Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties to:

• Extend the number of days for early voting and designate additional early voting locations. The early voting period may begin as early as Monday, October 24, 2022, and can extend through Election Day, November 8, 2022.
• Allow voters in Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties to request by phone that their vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot be mailed to an address other than their address of record. Voters must still provide an appropriate form of identification in the same manner as absent uniform service and overseas voters.
• Designate and provide notice of the locations for secure ballot intake stations and relocate and consolidate polling locations as necessary.
• Increase the pool of eligible poll workers who may serve within Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties by making eligible any poll workers previously trained for the 2020 election cycle and thereafter and by encouraging state employees to serve as poll workers in these counties.

The governor’s office said there is damage to polling locations and early voting sites, poll worker unavailability, and displaced voters in the three counties.

“In the wake of Hurricane Ian, the Florida Department of State has worked with Florida’s Supervisors of Elections and Governor DeSantis to ensure that the 2022 General Election is administered as efficiently and securely as possible across the state and in the counties that received the heaviest damage,” Secretary of State Cord Byrd said. 

The governor signed the executive order at the request of the Supervisors of Elections in Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties, and at the recommendation of Byrd. He conducted assessments of dozens of counties affected by Hurricane Ian and recommended modifications be made for Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota Counties.

Election supervisors have not reported any damage to voting machines and election-related equipment, which includes ballots.