Who Can Register and Vote
(Florida Statute 97.041)
You must be:
- At least 18 years of age,
- A citizen of the United States of America, and
- A legal resident of Florida and of the county where you intend to vote.
You can pre-register on or after your 16th birthday and may vote in any election held on or after your 18th birthday.
Persons Not Entitled to Register or Vote
(Florida Statute 97.041)
You cannot register or vote if you are:
- Adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting unless that right has been restored.
- A convicted felon who has not completed all terms of sentence, including fines.
- Not a citizen of the United States of America. (A lawful permanent resident cannot register or vote in Florida.)
How to Register to Vote
(Florida Statute 97.053)
You must complete a voter registration application. Voter registration applications are available:
- Any local Supervisor of Elections' office
- Any voter registration agency (i.e., office that provides public assistance, office that serves persons with disabilities, center of independent living, armed forces recruitment office, and the public library).
- Any office that issues driver licenses (some tax collector’s offices issue driver licenses). You may also submit your voter registration information electronically at the same time as you get a new or renewed license. The electronic information will be forwarded to the Supervisor of Elections for processing.
- The Division of Elections.
- Fishing and hunting license shops.
Once completed, mail or deliver the form to a Supervisor of Elections’ office, the Division of Elections, or any voter registration agency.
What is Required for New Registration
(Florida Statute 97.053)
You must complete the following fields for a new registration:
- Your name.
- Your legal residence address.
- Your date of birth.
- Your valid Florida driver license number or Florida identification card number. If you have not been issued either of these numbers, provide the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you have not been issued that number either, then you must indicate "none" in the field asking for this information.
- An affirmation or a mark in the check box affirming that you are a citizen of the United States of America.
- An affirmation or a mark in the check box affirming that you have not been convicted of a felony or that, if convicted, you have had your civil rights restored.
- An affirmation or a mark in the check box affirming that you have not been adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or that, if adjudicated, you have had your right to vote restored.
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Your signature. By signing or marking the registration application, you swear or affirm under penalty of false oath that the information contained in the registration application is true. (A power of attorney is not accepted. No one other than the voter may sign or mark his or her own voter registration application.)
Note: A party affiliation is not required for a new registration. However, if you do not designate a political party affiliation, you will be registered without party affiliation [i.e., no party affiliation (NPA)].
When Can You Register
(Florida Statutes 97.053, 97.055 and 97.0555)
You can apply at any time either by mail or in person. However, if you want to vote in an upcoming election, the deadline to register is the 29th day before that election. Otherwise, new voter registrations will be accepted after the deadline to register for an election, but only for the purpose of subsequent elections.
Your registration date will be the date your new voter registration application is postmarked or hand delivered to:
- Any County Supervisor of Elections’ office
- The Division of Elections
- An office that issues driver’s licenses (examiner’s or tax collector’s office)
- Any voter registration agency (i.e., any office that provides public assistance, any office that serves persons with disabilities, any center for independent living, any armed forces recruitment office, or any public library).
Placement on Inactive Voter Rolls and Removal
(Florida Statutes 98.065 and 98.0655)
Whenever the Supervisor of Elections receives information from the post office or other governmental agency source that:
- You have changed residence within Florida, your registration record will be automatically be changed to reflect that new address. The Supervisor of Elections’ office will send you an Address Change Notice. Contact your Supervisor of Elections if the changed address is incorrect.
- You have moved outside Florida, the Supervisor of Elections’ office will send you an Address Confirmation Final Notice. You must respond within 30 days or your registration status will be changed to inactive. As an inactive voter, you are still registered and can vote. Your inactive status will revert to active status, if you update your voter registration record, go to the polls to vote, or request an absentee ballot. However, if you do not take any of these actions after two general (federal) elections from the date you were first made inactive, your name will be removed from the registration system. You will have to re-register again in order to vote.
Registration Is a Public Record
(Florida Statute 97.0585)
In Florida, voter registration records are open to the public. This means any person may request to see or copy voter registration information including date of birth, address, party affiliation, phone number and email address. However, the following registration information is confidential and exempt from public disclosure: Social Security number, Florida driver license number, Florida identification number, location of voter's place of registration, and location of place of registration update. A voter's signature may be viewed but may not be copied.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, stalking or aggravated stalking and participate in the Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program, your voter registration information will be protected from public disclosure. See Florida Statutes 741.401 through 741.465. For further details, contact the Bureau of Advocacy and Grants Management in the Florida Office of the Attorney General at (850) 414-3300. Additionally, if you are a member of one of the high-risk professional classes (e.g., judge, prosecutor, firefighter, human resource officer, etc.) you may request that your address and certain other identifying information such as your date of birth within your voter registration record be protected from public disclosure. You must submit a request in writing to the Florida Division of Elections or the Columbia County Supervisor of Elections (Florida Statute 119.071).
Military and Overseas Citizens
Registration
(Florida Statute 101.6952 and 101.697; R1S-2.030, R1S-2.049, Fla. Admin Code)
If you are a United States uniformed services member on active duty, a Merchant Marine member, spouse or dependent thereof, or a United States citizen residing outside of the United States, you can use the statewide voter registration application, the national mail-in application or download the Federal Post Card Application by using the link below. The FPCA is unique in that it can be used as a voter registration application, a request for a vote-by-mail ballot or both. The FPCA request for a vote-by-mail ballot will be effective as a request to receive a vote-by-mail ballot for all elections occurring from the date you submitted your initial request through the end of the calendar year of the second ensuing regularly scheduled general election. This request is referred to as a ‘standing request’ to receive vote-by-mail ballots during that period for all elections for which you are eligible. The FPCA is available online on the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s website at: www.fvap.gov, or by contacting your Voting Assistance Officer. Alternatively, you may still submit a request by phone, mail, fax, or e-mail to the Columbia County Supervisor of Elections to receive a voter registration application or request a vote-by-mail ballot to be sent to you by mail, fax or email.
Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) - PDF
Late Registration
(Florida Statute 97.0555)
Provided you are otherwise qualified, you can register to vote after book closing if you have:
- Been discharged or separated from the uniformed services or the U.S. Merchant Marine,
- Returned from a military deployment or activation, or
- Separated from employment outside the territorial limits of the United States.
You have until 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before that election to register. This also applies to an accompanying family member. You will have to produce sufficient documentation showing evidence of qualifying for the late registration.