JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The pandemic is supposed to bring an unprecedented amount of mail-in ballots for the November 2020 presidential election.
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan said the office has already received 120,000 mail-in ballot requests, and are receiving more every day.
Amid the pandemic, 39 percent of voters plan to cast their ballot by mail this year.
Of those who plan to vote for Joe Biden, that number jumps to 58 percent.
President Donald Trump has slammed voting by mail, saying foreign countries can tamper with ballots sent through the U.S. Postal Service.
Democrats say the president’s opposition is to suppress voters.
Hogan backs the security of voting by mail with complete confidence. He said the problem with voting by mail is typically voter error.
“The most important thing is people do not follow instructions,” Hogan said.
Hogan says the most common issues are not correctly filling in circles when voting, not using a black pen and a signature error typically signature errors mean it is forgotten or doesn’t match what is one file. That’s why it is imperative to be proactive and mail in your ballot early so any potential issues can be caught before it is too late, he said.
“I would encourage anyone in the state of Florida, consider it just as safe as any other type of voting,” said Jerry Holland, former Supervisor of Elections and president of Florida Supervisor of Elections Association.
After weeks of slamming voting by mail, the White House has said the president and First Lady have requested absentee ballots as Palm Beach residents for the Florida primary. Trump has said that he supports absentee ballots, just not typical mail-in ballots.
The difference between the two is some states require the voter to provide a reason why they need to vote by mail with an absentee ballot. Whereas mail-in ballots are available to all registered voters.
American Postal Workers Union Of Northeast Florida President Angela Johnson says from a security standpoint, both ballots are handled the exact same way by the postal service.
“It’s the exact same thing,” Johnson said. “What’s in the information may be different. But it’s the exact same thing. If it’s good for him to use. It’s good enough for everyone else to use.”
Hogan and Holland said voting by mail is better than not voting at all.
“The only vote not counted is the one not cast,” Holland said.