KNOW YOUR VOTING RIGHTS FLORIDA

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1 KNOW YOUR VOTING RIGHTS FLORIDA Election Day is Tuesday, November 6, 2012 This booklet is designed to help you protect your right to vote. Keep it handy, and take it with you to the polls during Early Voting or on Election Day. QUICK TIPS FOR VOTERS Check your voter registration status by calling (866) or going to Locate your polling place and note the hours of operation by calling (866) or going to Consider voting before Election Day during the Early Voting period but note that early voting dates have changed. If you plan to vote at the polls, go early in the day to avoid the last-minute rush. Or consider requesting an absentee ballot and voting by mail. Bring a photo ID. Signatures can change over time. If you think your signature has changed since you registered, it may be a good idea to update it by submitting a voter registration application to your Supervisor of Elections. Read all instructions carefully. Take your time and ask for help if you need it. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with more than 500,000 members dedicated to defending the principles of liberty and equality embodied in the Constitution and our nation s civil rights laws. We believe that the right to vote is essential to our democracy. The ACLU does not endorse or oppose any candidate or political party.

2 WHO CAN VOTE CAN I VOTE IN FLORIDA? You can vote in the 2012 general election if you re registered to vote by Tuesday, October 9, You can register if you meet all of these requirements: (1) you ll be 18 years old or older by November 6, 2012; (2) you re a U.S. citizen; (3) you re a resident of Florida and the county where you plan to vote; (4) you haven t been declared by a court to be mentally incapacitated ; and (5) if you ve been convicted of a felony, you have had your civil rights restored through the clemency process (which restores your right to vote). WHAT IF I VE BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIME? If you were convicted of a misdemeanor, you CAN vote. If you re still in jail, you may have to vote by absentee ballot. If you were charged with a felony but adjudication was withheld, you were found not guilty, or the charges were dropped, you CAN vote. If you were convicted of a felony in Florida or in federal court while you were a resident of Florida: You CAN vote if you have received Restoration of Civil Rights (which restores your right to vote). You can check whether your rights have been restored at: You CANNOT vote if you have not had your civil rights restored through the clemency process. If you were convicted of a felony while you were a resident of another state and you now live in Florida: You CAN vote in Florida if you had your voting rights restored in the state where you were a resident when you were convicted. (In some states, your voting rights are restored automatically when you get out of prison or finish your sentence. In other states you have to apply to have your voting rights restored.) You CAN vote in Florida if you were convicted when you were a resident in a state where you never lost your right to vote. You CANNOT vote in Florida if you didn t have your voting rights restored in the state where you were a resident when you were convicted. Visit for more information and to learn how you can restore your voting rights. If you re not sure whether your rights have been restored, go to to check. WHAT IF I M A STUDENT? You can register to vote at whatever address you consider your primary residence. This can be your school address or your home address. You can register to vote

3 using your school address even if you don t change your permanent address. See below for information about how to change your address for voting purposes. WHAT IF I M HOMELESS? You don t need a home to register to vote. On your registration form, you can use the address for a place of residence or a home-base where you can regularly be reached. This can be a street corner, a park, a shelter, or any other place where you usually stay. WHAT IF I VE MOVED? You should notify your Supervisor of Elections every time you change your address. Call your Supervisor of Elections to find out whether you can do this by phone, , fax, mail, in person and/or online. If you moved within the same county but didn t tell the Supervisor of Elections, you can vote at the polling place for your new address after signing a form affirming your new address. If you moved to a new county in Florida and didn t tell the Supervisor of Elections, you can vote at the polling place for your new address, but you will be required to vote by provisional ballot, not a regular ballot. WHAT IF I VE CHANGED MY NAME? You have to notify your Supervisor of Elections or other voter registration official every time you change your name. You can do this using a voter registration application or another written notice that has your signature and birth date or voter registration number. If you changed your name but didn t tell the Supervisor of Elections, you can vote after filling out a name change form at your polling place. REGISTRATION HOW DO I KNOW IF I M REGISTERED? Your Supervisor of Elections will mail a voter information card to you showing that you are registered to vote. You can also check your registration status by calling your Supervisor of Elections, or online at HOW DO I REGISTER? You can register to vote: in person by filling out a voter registration application at any County Supervisor of Elections office, DMV office, voter registration agency, armed forces recruitment office, or the State Division of Elections; by mail or online by filling out a mail-in voter registration application and mailing it to your county Supervisor of Elections or any other governmental

4 office that s authorized to accept registrations; you can get mail-in voter registration forms from a Supervisor of Elections office, DMV, most libraries, colleges and high schools, by calling your Supervisor of Elections, or online at when you apply for services at a DMV office or at state agencies that provide public assistance (like Medicaid, WIC, and food stamps) or services to people with disabilities. WHAT S THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE? You can vote in the November 6 election if you re registered to vote by Tuesday, October 9, If you miss the deadline, you won t be able to vote in the November 6 election, but you can register to vote in future elections. VOTING EARLY CAN I VOTE BEFORE ELECTION DAY? Yes. If you re registered to vote, you can vote in person at special Early Voting sites before Election Day. You can vote at any Early Voting site within your county. Contact your county Supervisor of Elections for the dates, location and hours of an early voting site near you. For most Floridians, early voting will begin on Saturday, October 27 and end on Saturday, November 3, This means you will not be able to vote in person the Sunday before Election Day. If you live in Hillsborough, Collier, Monroe, Hendry, or Hardee counties, you may vote early. To check specific times and days call the Florida Voter Assistance Hotline at or check for the most up-to-date information. You can also vote with an absentee ballot instead of going to the polls (more details below). HOW DO I GET AN ABSENTEE BALLOT TO VOTE BY MAIL? You can request an absentee ballot from your county s Supervisor of Elections. You can make your request in person, by telephone, by mail or online at your Supervisor of Elections website. Your immediate family or legal guardian can also request one for you if they call or write to the Supervisor of Elections and provide your name, address, date of birth and their name, address, driver s license number and relationship to you. For more information on absentee ballot voting visit: A request for an absentee ballot to be mailed must be received by the Supervisor of Elections by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31.

5 Most absentee ballot requests last for two years, so you may have to re-submit your request to vote absentee. You can check on the status of your absentee ballot request by calling your Supervisor of Elections or online at You must sign your absentee ballot before returning it to your Supervisor of Elections. If the signature on the ballot doesn t match the signature on file, your ballot will not be counted. You can update your signature by submitting a voter registration application to your Supervisor of Elections by October 19, WHAT S THE DEADLINE FOR RETURNING MY ABSENTEE BALLOT? To be counted, your absentee ballot must be received by your Supervisor of Elections by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. VOTING ON ELECTION DAY WHEN IS ELECTION DAY? Tuesday, November 6, WHEN ARE THE POLLS OPEN? Polling places will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You have the right to vote if you re in line or inside your polling place when the polls close. CAN I GET TIME OFF FROM WORK TO VOTE? The law doesn t require employers to give their employees paid or unpaid time off from work to vote, but your employer may allow you to do so. Ask your employer well before Election Day. WHERE DO I VOTE? On Election Day, you have to vote at your assigned polling place. (Note: Florida law requires that the entire ballot be discarded if it is cast in the wrong precinct.) Your assigned polling place will be listed on the voter registration card that you receive in the mail after you register. If you don t have your card, call your Supervisor of Elections or look up your polling place online at elections.myflorida.com/checkvoterstatus. If you vote early, you can go to any Early Voting site within your county. WHAT IF I AM DISABLED AND MY POLLING PLACE IS NOT ACCESSIBLE? State and federal laws require all polling places to be accessible and usable by

6 people with disabilities. If you find out before Election Day that your polling place is inaccessible, notify your Supervisor of Elections and ask for an accommodation. CAN I GET A BALLOT IN MY NATIVE LANGUAGE? Broward, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, Lee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach and Polk counties are required by law to provide language assistance in Spanish. On Election Day, poll workers in these counties should offer this assistance to you. If they don t, tell a poll worker that you want assistance. You have a right to receive all ballots and any other election materials in Spanish. Other counties provide assistance in languages other than English, even if they re not required by law to do so. Contact your Supervisor of Elections before Election Day to find out what s available in your area. If language assistance isn t provided where you vote, you have the right to bring a translator with you to the polls. You have a right to get help in your language from anyone you choose, including a poll worker (your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your labor union are prohibited from providing assistance). WHAT IF I NEED HELP IN THE VOTING BOOTH? If you need help because of a physical disability or because you can t read the ballot, tell a poll worker when you get to your polling place. You have the right to vote on an accessible voting machine. You also have the right to have anyone you choose assist you in the voting booth, including a poll worker (your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your labor union are prohibited from providing assistance). If you need instructions on how to use the voting equipment, ask a poll worker for help. Poll workers are required to help you at any time you ask even after you have entered the voting booth. VOTER ID DO I HAVE TO SHOW ID? Yes. State law requires all voters to show a photo ID before receiving a ballot. WHAT ARE THE ACCEPTED FORMS OF ID? Accepted forms of ID are: a Florida driver s license, a Florida ID card issued by the DMV, a U.S. passport, a debit or credit card (with your photo on it), a military or student ID, a retirement center ID, a neighborhood association ID, and a public assistance ID. If the ID you provide doesn t include your signature, you ll have to show an additional form of ID (which doesn t have to include your photo) with your signature on it. You will be required to sign your name on the precinct register or on an

7 electronic device so that the two signatures can be matched. If your signature has changed, you can update your signature by submitting a voter registration application to your Supervisor of Elections by October 19, WHAT IF I DON T HAVE ANY ID? You will have to cast a provisional ballot. For that ballot to count, election officials have to confirm that you were eligible to vote. If you have time and have ID at home or work, it s usually better to get your ID and return to the polls to cast a regular ballot. PROBLEMS AT THE POLLS WHAT IF I M NOT ON THE VOTER LIST? First, ask a poll worker to check the list again and to make sure you re at the right polling place. If you re at the right polling place but your name isn t on the voter list, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot but you should use a provisional ballot only if there s no way for you to vote on a regular ballot. Your provisional ballot will count only if you voted in your assigned polling place. WHAT IF I GO TO THE WRONG POLLING PLACE? You can ask a poll worker to help you find the polling place where you re registered. Remember, your entire ballot will be discarded if you cast it in the wrong precinct. You can also call your Supervisor of Elections. If you can t figure out where you re registered, go the polling place that you think is most likely to be the right one and ask to cast a regular ballot. WHAT IS A PROVISIONAL BALLOT? A provisional ballot is used to record your vote when the election official isn t sure if you re eligible or if you didn t bring the required identification. You should use a provisional ballot only if there s no way for you to vote on a regular ballot. Your provisional ballot will be counted only if election officials determine that you were eligible to vote and only if you voted in your assigned polling place. If you do use a provisional ballot, to ensure that your vote will be counted, you should show written evidence of your eligibility to vote to your Supervisor of Elections by 5:00 p.m. on November 8. You can contact your Supervisor of Elections within 30 days to learn whether your provisional ballot was counted.

8 WHAT IF SOMEONE CHALLENGES MY RIGHT TO VOTE? People who believe you re trying to vote illegally can challenge your right to vote. If this happens, insist on your right to vote a regular ballot and ask for a copy of the challenge. If an election official says you cannot vote a regular ballot, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot. Your ballot will count only if election officials determine after the election that you were eligible to vote and that you voted at the right polling place. If you are challenged because the challenger believes that you do not live in the precinct where you registered to vote, you may still be able to vote using a regular ballot. You ll have to sign a written affirmation that you have moved to a different precinct within the same county. WHAT IF SOMEONE TRIES TO INTIMIDATE OR HARASS ME? Tell a poll worker right away. If the poll worker is the problem, report that to the supervisor of the voting precinct. If the problem is not resolved, tell a poll watcher or call your Supervisor of Elections, or call one of the election hotline numbers listed at the end of this pamphlet. WHAT IF I MAKE A MISTAKE ON MY BALLOT OR THE VOTING MACHINE MALFUNCTIONS? Tell a poll worker before you cast your ballot. If you spoil a ballot, you have the right to receive up to two additional replacement ballots. If your voting machine malfunctions, you can request a different machine. HOW DO I MAKE A COMPLAINT? First, ask for an election inspector at your polling place. He or she can handle most complaints that arise on Election Day. Candidates, political parties, and nonprofit groups may also have poll watchers at your polling place who might be able to assist you. If any of those people ask you who you voted for, or if they can t resolve your complaint, call your Supervisor of Elections. You can also call one of the election hotline numbers listed at the end of this pamphlet or file a complaint form that is available at: us/voting/index.shtml. MORE INFORMATION For help or to find the phone number for your Supervisor of Elections, call (866) or go to Florida Division of Elections Voter Hotline: (877) Election Protection: 866-OUR-VOTE ( ) ACLU Voter Protection Hotline: (877) U.S. Department of Justice: (800)