Common Election Myths and Facts in Okeechobee County

• •Voters in line at their polling place by 7 p.m. on Election Day are legally entitled to vote regardless of line length.
• •A voter information card is not required to vote.
• •The address on a driver's license does not need to match the address on the voter registration record.
• •Political attire is permitted at polling places, provided the voter is not actively campaigning within 150 feet of the polling location.
• •Florida is a no-excuse vote-by-mail state; any registered voter may request a mail ballot.
• •Mail ballots must be returned to the Supervisor of Elections office, not to a polling place on Election Day.
• •If a voter brings their mail ballot to the polls, they can surrender it to poll workers to vote a regular ballot; otherwise, they may be required to vote a provisional ballot.
• •All properly executed mail, early, and provisional ballots are counted.
• •Voters who do not vote in two consecutive general elections may be moved to inactive status, but they remain eligible to vote by updating their address.
• •Over-voting or under-voting in a specific race does not invalidate the entire ballot; only the affected contest is impacted.
• •Homeless individuals are eligible to vote if they have a mailing address or a place to receive messages.
• •Foreclosure status does not affect a person's eligibility to vote.
• •Law enforcement is prohibited from entering a polling place unless summoned by poll workers, and voter rolls do not indicate outstanding warrants.

Residents need to understand these rules to ensure their ballots are counted and to avoid being turned away from the polls due to misinformation.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.