Early voting ended Sunday. If you haven't voted yet, Tuesday, Nov. 3, is your last chance, and the rules are a little stricter than they were last week.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. If you're in line at 7 p.m., you can still vote. If you get there after 7, you can't.
Go to your precinct, not an early voting site
During early voting you could use any site in your county. On Election Day you have to vote at the polling place assigned to your precinct. The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections puts it bluntly: if you try to vote at the wrong polling place, your vote will not count.
Some polling places moved for this election, so check yours before you leave, even if you've voted at the same church or rec center for years. Look it up with your county's precinct finder: Hillsborough, Pinellas or Pasco.
What to bring
Bring a current ID with your photo and signature. A Florida driver license or state ID card works, and so do a U.S. passport, a debit or credit card, a military ID, a student ID, a veteran health ID or a concealed weapon license, among others on the state's list. If your photo ID doesn't have a signature, you'll be asked for a second ID that does. It has to be the actual card, not a picture of it on your phone.
Forgot your ID? You can still cast a provisional ballot, which the county canvassing board reviews later.
You can bring a marked-up sample ballot or notes with you. Your personalized sample ballot is on your county's elections website.
Still holding a mail ballot?
It's too late to mail it. It has to reach the elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday to count. You have two choices:
- Drop it off at a supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. Your polling place can't accept it.
- Vote in person instead. Bring the mail ballot with you. Poll workers will cancel it and give you a new ballot. You can't take the mail ballot into the booth as a cheat sheet.
TBO's earlier guide to mail ballot drop-off has more on tracking whether yours already arrived.
What's on the ballot
Everyone in Florida votes for governor, U.S. Senate and the rest of the Cabinet, plus congressional and legislative seats. There are three statewide constitutional amendments, on the budget stabilization fund, a tax exemption for agricultural equipment and a bigger homestead exemption that would also lower the cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property. Each amendment needs 60% to pass.
The local questions depend on where you live.
Hillsborough County voters will see three county referendums, according to the all-races sample ballot:
- Whether the school superintendent should be elected instead of appointed by the School Board.
- Whether to grow the County Commission from seven members to nine, and eventually 11, all elected from single-member districts.
- Whether to renew the half-cent sales tax for public school air conditioning and other building projects for 10 more years.
County Commission Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 and three School Board seats are also on the Hillsborough ballot.
In St. Petersburg, voters are picking a mayor and two City Council members, and deciding a water and sewer bond, a 30-year Harborage Marina lease and three charter amendments, according to the League of Women Voters' Pinellas guide. One amendment would take city-owned vacant lots off the park and waterfront map so they can be used for housing. Another would allow Port of St. Petersburg leases of up to 25 years. Several other Pinellas cities, including Largo, Madeira Beach, Belleair, Treasure Island and Redington Shores, have charter questions of their own.
Pasco County voters will see a School Board property tax millage question for public school students, Tampa Bay 28 reported.
When will we know?
Counties start posting results after polls close at 7 p.m. on their elections websites. TBO will have the local results that matter most to Tampa Bay, including what's next for Tampa City Council's open District 7 seat, where applications open this week.
Questions on Election Day? Hillsborough's elections office is at 813-744-5900, Pinellas is at 727-464-8683, and the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline is 866-OUR-VOTE.