101.69 Voting in person; return of vote-by-mail ballot.—
(1) The provisions of this code shall not be construed to prohibit any elector from voting in person at the elector’s precinct on the day of an election or at an early voting site, notwithstanding that the elector has requested a vote-by-mail ballot for that election. An elector who has returned a voted vote-by-mail ballot to the supervisor, however, is deemed to have cast his or her ballot and is not entitled to vote another ballot or to have a provisional ballot counted by the county canvassing board. An elector who has received a vote-by-mail ballot and has not returned the voted ballot to the supervisor, but desires to vote in person, shall return the ballot, whether voted or not, to the election board in the elector’s precinct or to an early voting site. The returned ballot shall be marked “canceled” by the board and placed with other canceled ballots. However, if the elector does not return the ballot and the election official:
(a) Confirms that the supervisor has received the elector’s vote-by-mail ballot, the elector shall not be allowed to vote in person. If the elector maintains that he or she has not returned the vote-by-mail ballot or remains eligible to vote, the elector shall be provided a provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048.
(b) Confirms that the supervisor has not received the elector’s vote-by-mail ballot, the elector shall be allowed to vote in person as provided in this code. The elector’s vote-by-mail ballot, if subsequently received, shall not be counted and shall remain in the mailing envelope, and the envelope shall be marked “Rejected as Illegal.”
(c) Cannot determine whether the supervisor has received the elector’s vote-by-mail ballot, the elector may vote a provisional ballot as provided in s. 101.048.
(2)(a) The supervisor shall allow an elector who has received a vote-by-mail ballot to physically return a voted vote-by-mail ballot to the supervisor by placing the return mail envelope containing his or her marked ballot in a secure ballot intake station. Secure ballot intake stations shall be placed at the main office of the supervisor, at each permanent branch office of the supervisor which meets the criteria set forth in s. 101.657(1)(a) for branch offices used for early voting and which is open for at least the minimum number of hours prescribed by s. 98.015(4), and at each early voting site. Secure ballot intake stations may also be placed at any other site that would otherwise qualify as an early voting site under s. 101.657(1). Secure ballot intake stations must be geographically located so as to provide all voters in the county with an equal opportunity to cast a ballot, insofar as is practicable. Except for secure ballot intake stations at an office of the supervisor, a secure ballot intake station may only be used during the county’s early voting hours of operation and must be monitored in person by an employee of the supervisor’s office. A secure ballot intake station at an office of the supervisor must be continuously monitored in person by an employee of the supervisor’s office when the secure ballot intake station is accessible for deposit of ballots.
(b) A supervisor shall designate each secure ballot intake station location at least 30 days before an election. The supervisor shall provide the address of each secure ballot intake station location to the division at least 30 days before an election. After a secure ballot intake station location has been designated, it may not be moved or changed except as approved by the division to correct a violation of this subsection.
(c)1. On each day of early voting, all secure ballot intake stations must be emptied at the end of early voting hours and all ballots retrieved from the secure ballot intake stations must be returned to the supervisor’s office.
2. For secure ballot intake stations located at an office of the supervisor, all ballots must be retrieved before the secure ballot intake station is no longer monitored by an employee of the supervisor.
3. Employees of the supervisor must comply with procedures for the chain of custody of ballots as required by s. 101.015(4).
(3) If any secure ballot intake station is left accessible for ballot receipt other than as authorized by this section, the supervisor is subject to a civil penalty of $25,000. The division is authorized to enforce this provision.
History.—s. 1, ch. 22014, 1943; s. 1, ch. 25385, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 37, ch. 65-380; s. 23, ch. 77-175; s. 592, ch. 95-147; s. 8, ch. 96-57; s. 38, ch. 2001-40; s. 18, ch. 2002-17; s. 48, ch. 2005-277; s. 25, ch. 2016-37; s. 20, ch. 2019-162; s. 28, ch. 2021-11; s. 22, ch. 2022-73; s. 26, ch. 2023-8.
