TAMPA, Fla. — Election Day is around the corner in Tampa and Monday is the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming municipal election.
You must be a registered voter in the city of Tampa to cast a ballot on March 7, which features races for mayor, city council seats and four proposed changes to the city charter.
Voters have until February 25th to request a vote-by-mail ballot, but a new law could be impacting just how many requests have been sent in.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Office is noticing less participation, recently mailing just under 15,000 ballots to Tampa voters, considerably less than the 58,000 they mailed out in 2019.
“We know that generally, a third of our electorate vote by mail, 1/3 votes early and 1/3 votes election day,” Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer said. "We certainly need to get those numbers up.”
Tampa’s Municipal Election is one of the first general elections since a new voting law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis took effect, which requires voters to request mail ballots every election cycle, rather than every other.
If a voter requested a vote-by-mail ballot in November, they would still have to apply for one for the upcoming election.
The easiest way to register or request a ballot is online at www.votehillsborough.gov.