Election Registration Deadline Approaches

KICKOFF. MEET THE FOUNDER OF A PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS STUDENTS TO HELP FELLOW STUDENTS. HELLO, I'M JENNIFER CRAWFORD. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. THE DEADLINE IS FAST APPROACHING FOR VOTERS WHO WANT TO TAKE PART IN THIS YEAR'S MIDTERMS. YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT MONDAY, OCTOBER 5TH TO REGISTER TO VOTE FOR THE UPCOMING NOVEMBER 3RD ELECTION. NOW IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT TIME TO REQUEST YOUR VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT. AND IF YOU CHOOSE TO VOTE IN PERSON, MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR POLLING PLACE, LOCATIONS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN COLLIER COUNTY. WE'RE NEARLY 173,000 REGISTERED VOTERS WERE IMPACTED BY CHANGES TO FLORIDA'S CONGRESSIONAL MAPS. I AM NOW JOINED BY MELISSA GLACIER, THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS FOR COLLIER COUNTY. AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN STUDIO. WELL, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. NOW. COLLIER COUNTY HAS MORE THAN 260,000 REGISTERED VOTERS. YOU JUST FINISHED SENDING OUT ALL THE REQUEST FOR THE VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS, ALL ALL ABOUT THEMSELVES HAVE GONE OUT. THEY ARE ARRIVING AT HOUSEHOLDS THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AS WELL. HOW MANY DID YOUR COUNTY SEND OUT? >> SO WE HAVE SO FAR MAILED OUT ABOUT 52,000 VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS, WHICH IS GREAT GOING INTO THIS ELECTION. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS QUITE A BIT LOWER THAN WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE FOR THIS GUBERNATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION. BUT WE WILL BE WORKING ON THAT FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. AND VOTERS CAN STILL REQUEST A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT FOLKS NEED TO REMEMBER. WE WILL NEVER AUTOMATICALLY MAIL YOU A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT. YOU MUST REQUEST ONE BY LAW IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND THEY HAVE UNTIL 05:00PM ON OCTOBER 22ND TO MAKE THAT BALLOT REQUEST. >> WHY IS YOUR COUNTY SEEING DRAMATIC DECLINE IN THE REQUEST FOR THESE VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS? >> SO IT'S NOT JUST COLLIER COUNTY'S ACTUALLY ACROSS THE BOARD, THE WHOLE STATE OF FLORIDA. WE HAD SOME LEGISLATIVE CHANGES BACK IN 2021. THAT CHANGED THE WAY FOLKS CAN REQUEST A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS. SO YOU USED TO BE ABLE TO REQUEST A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT AND IT WAS GOOD FOR FOR ELECTIONS. AND NOW IT'S ONLY GOOD FOR ONE ELECTION CYCLE. SO THAT WOULD BE 2 YEARS. SO EVERY 2 YEARS FOLKS HAVE TO RE REQUEST TO VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS. AND I THINK UNTIL WE GET INTO THAT PATTERN OF REQUESTING EVERY YEAR. IT'S IT'S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT FOR FOLKS NOW. HOW DO YOU THINK THE DECLINE IN THE REQUEST FOR THE VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS? WILL THAT >> IMPACT THE TURNOUT FOR MIDTERM ELECTIONS? >> SO I DON'T ACTUALLY THINK IT'LL IMPACT THE TURNOUT PER SE, BUT IT IS GOING TO IMPACT THE WAY THAT FOLKS CAST THEIR BALLOTS. SO WITH THE NUMBER OF VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS DECREASING ONE WOULD HOPE IN-PERSON VOTING IS GOING TO INCREASE OR IN-PERSON EARLY VOTING IN IN-PERSON ON ELECTION DAY WILL INCREASE. NOW WE HAVE A VERY LENGTHY BALLOT IN COLLIER COUNTY THIS YEAR. IT IS ONE 17 INCH PAGE WITH CONTENT ON FRONT AND BACK WELL. AND SO IT CAN TAKE VOTERS 10 TO 15 MINUTES IN THE VOTING BOOTH. AND WHEN WE SEE FOLKS IN VOTING WAS LINES, THEN WE SEE LINES ALTOGETHER. SO I'M I'M ENCOURAGING FOLKS TO EITHER REQUEST TO VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT OR PLEASE GET THEIR SAMPLE BALLOT MARKET BEFORE THEY GO TO THE POLLS THAT THEY ARE PREPARED WHEN THEY GET THERE TO VOTE. >> AND YOU MENTIONED EARLY VOTING IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AS WELL TO AVOID THE LINES ON ELECTION DAY. >> ABSOLUTELY. SO WE WILL START EARLY VOTING IN COLLIER COUNTY ON OCTOBER 22ND. WE WILL RUN DAILY THROUGH HALLOWEEN OCTOBER 31ST. 9 HOURS PER DAY. SO 09:00AM UNTIL 06:00PM. AND WE OFFER EARLY VOTING IN 11 LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY. VOTERS CAN GO TO ANY OF THOSE 11 LOCATIONS. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE ONE THAT'S CLOSEST TO THEM. THEY CAN GO TO OUR WEBSITE. COLLIERVOTES DOT GOV. WE POST WAIT TIMES ON OUR WEBSITE SO YOU MIGHT DRIVE A FEW MINUTES AWAY AND YOUR WAIT. TIME CAN BE 15 MINUTES SHORTER. >> NOW YORK COUNTY WAS DRAMATICALLY IMPACTED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING MAPS. YOU LOST 2 DISTRICTS AND YOU'VE ADAPTED 19 AND YOU'VE ALL SO GAINED ANOTHER DISTRICTS. TESTS. THIS AFFECTED, I BELIEVE ALMOST 200,000 VOTERS. HOW IS THAT CHANGING YOUR WORKLOAD AND WHAT YOU ALL NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE THOSE VOTERS WHO MIGHT BE IN A DIFFERENT DISTRICT THAT THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO THIS YEAR FOR THE MIDTERMS. >> SO HOPEFULLY A LOT OF PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, CAME TO THIS REALIZATION DURING THE PRIMARY ELECTION THAT THEIR DISTRICT HAD CHANGED BECAUSE, YES, WE WENT FROM 3 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS TO 2 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS WITH NUMBERS CHANGING AND IN JUST REPRESENTATIVES COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THEY HAD BEEN IN THE PAST. HOPEFULLY FOLKS ARE LOOKING AT THEIR VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS THAT WERE MAILING. WE WILL BE MAILING THOSE SAMPLE BALLOTS OUT AND ABOUT A WEEK OR TAKE A LOOK AT THE BALLOTS BECAUSE YOU MIGHT BE HEARING A LOT ABOUT DISTRICT TO 19 WHERE HE MAY BE IN DISTRICT. 22 IN COLLIER COUNTY. SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR FOLKS TO AGAIN GO TO THE WEBSITE. CHECK OUT YOUR INFORMATION. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR REGISTRATION INFORMATION IS UP TO DATE AND LOOK AT WHAT DISTRICTS YOU RESIDE. >> AND AGAIN, OCTOBER 5TH, THAT'S THE BIG DAY. THEY HAVE TO REGISTER BY IS AT 05:00PM. >> SO IT'S ACTUALLY A BY MIDNIGHT ON OCTOBER 5TH. SO THAT'S A HUGE DEADLINE IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA HAVE TO BE REGISTERED TO VOTE BY THAT DATE DIFFERENT THAN IN THE PRIMARY WHERE POLITICAL PARTY REALLY MATTERS. SO PARTY AFFILIATION CHANGES THAT DOESN'T MATTER. BUT YOU HAVE TO BE REGISTERED TO VOTE BY OCTOBER 5TH. >> IS THERE ANY OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU WANT COLLIER COUNTY BOATERS TO BE AWARE OF THAT THEY MIGHT NOT BE. >> I THINK REALLY IT'S JUST THE MOST IMPORTANT GOING INTO THIS ELECTION IS FOR FOLKS TO GO TO THE WEBSITE, CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION STATUS. MAKE SURE YOUR VOTER INFORMATION IS UP TO DATE. MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE MOST UP-TO-DATE ADDRESS ON FILE AND THAT THEIR ELECTION READY. DOWNLOAD THAT SAMPLE BALLOT. MAKE SURE DUPREE FEEL IT KNOW WHERE YOUR ELECTION DAY POLLING LOCATION IS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, JUST GET OUT TO VOTE. AND YOU ALSO JUST RECENTLY ANNOUNCED A PARTNERSHIP >> COLLIER COUNTY, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CHAMPIONS FOR LEARNING. WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? >> HE'S SO WE ACTUALLY HOST AN ANNUAL ART FOR DEMOCRACY CONTEST WHERE WE ASK KIDS KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12TH GRADE TO DESIGN. A PIECE OF ARTWORK THAT REPRESENTS WHAT DEMOCRACY MEANS TO THEM. WHAT BEING AMERICAN MEANS TO THEM WITH THESE ONES GOING INTO NEXT YEAR. SO 2027 WILL ACTUALLY TAKE SOME OF THE DESIGNS AND WILL CREATE AND I REGISTERED TO VOTE STICKER. SO IT'S JUST A GREAT PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE WITH COLLIER COUNTY, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CHAMPIONS FOR LEARNING. AND WE APPRECIATE THEIR SUPPORT AND THE ARTWORK THAT WE GET FROM THESE KIDS IS FANTASTIC. EVERY YEAR AND IT'S SO CREATIVE. >> IT IS. IT IS. WELL, THANK YOU, MELISSA BLAZER, SUPERVISOR