Florida Voter Registration Deadline Monday: How to Vote

You are a legal resident of Florida

You are a legal resident of the county where you want to register

You are at least 16 years old to preregister, or at least 18 to register and vote

You have not been declared mentally incapacitated in Florida or another state without having your voting rights restored

If you have a felony conviction, your voting rights must have been restored in Florida

Florida does not have a single set of rules defining legal residency. However, applicants must have a residential address in the state, and that address cannot be a post office box.

How to register

Florida residents have several options for registering to vote.

Online:

The state’s online voter registration portal, RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov, allows residents to register, update their information and verify their registration status. The website is offered in both English and Spanish.

To use the online system, you must have a Florida driver’s license or state-issued identification card, along with the last four digits of your Social Security number.

In person:

Voters may also register in person at the following offices:

The driver’s-license office

A public library

The Center for Independent Living

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WIC and DCF offices

Armed forces recruitment officers

Any supervisor of elections office

You can also print out a copy of the voter registration application and mail it to your county supervisor of elections office.

In order to register on a paper application, you must have:

A Florida driver’s license or Florida identification card

OR the last four digits of your Social Security number

What’s the deadline to register to vote?

In order to vote in an election, you must get your voter registration application in 29 days before that election, a deadline known as “book closing.” Here are the book closing dates for this year:

November general election: Oct. 5

What if I’m from another state?

If you are from another state, you need to fill out a new voter registration form for Florida. Your registration does not transfer from one state to the next. You need to make sure you are registered by the dates above in order to vote in a Florida election.

What if I’m registered and I want to update my registration (in-state change of address, change party affiliation, etc.)?

Say you need to change your address, or you want to change your party affiliation so you can vote in a party primary. You need to do this 29 days before the election. If you have a driver’s license, you can do this online at Register to Vote Florida.gov.

You will need a Florida driver’s license or a Florida identification card in order to make those changes AND the last four digits of your Social Security Number; otherwise, you will have to download a voter registration application and mail in your changes to your county supervisor of elections office. You can also go to the office.

Note, if you are making changes to your party affiliation before a primary election, you must make those changes by the deadline to register for that election. Florida is a closed primary state, which means only people who are members of a political party can vote in party primary elections.

If you move to a new address within your county and you aren’t able to change your address before election day, you can go to your new polling precinct and update the address with the polling clerk, or call your county elections office.

What if I’m registered to vote, but I haven’t voted in a while?

You may be considered an inactive voter. That’s when a voter’s information cannot be verified, and then an address verification letter is sent to you but returned as “undeliverable.”

To go from being an inactive voter to an active voter, all you have to do is vote, or contact your county supervisor of elections office.

Being an inactive voter does not stop you from voting.

If you’re curious if your voter registration is active, you can go to RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov, and look up your registration under “Am I Already Registered?”

What if I’ve been removed from voter rolls by accident?

The Florida Division of Elections says voters are removed from the rolls if they are dead, not a U.S. citizen, not listing a valid Florida address, have had their voting rights taken away because of a felony conviction or are judged to be mentally incapable, or if a voter has left the state and Florida election officials have been notified. A voter may also be asked to be removed from the rolls.

If you think you have been removed from the voter rolls by accident, you should contact your county supervisor of elections office immediately and submit a new voter registration application.

I am a convicted felon who has completed my sentence. How do I get my voting rights restored?

In Florida, certain felons who have completed their sentences are permitted to register to vote. Florida law requires that felons complete any prison and parole sentence, and probation, plus pay all applicable court fees.

Once this is done, you fill out a new voter registration application.

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition can help you figure out if you have paid all your fees and fines. Go to the FRRC website to learn more.