If you plan to vote by mail, do not assume a ballot will automatically arrive. A vote-by-mail ballot is only mailed to voters who have an active request on file with the Supervisor of Elections office. If your request has expired, you will need to submit a new one. Florida changed the rule in 2021 through Senate Bill 90. Before that change, vote-by-mail requests lasted longer. Under the current law, a request is valid only through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election.
For the 2025–2026 election cycle, that means voters who want a ballot mailed to them should check their status or submit a new request. Even if you voted by mail in 2024, you should not assume your request is still active. Highlands County voters can request a ballot or check their status through the Highlands County Supervisor of Elections.
To request a ballot, voters need to provide identifying information, including name, date of birth, address, and a Florida driver license number, Florida identification card number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
The deadline to request that a ballot be mailed is 5 p.m. on the 12th day before an election, so to vote by mail for the August 18 primary, the dealine is August 6, 2026 at 5pm.
