Still Holding a Mail Ballot in Hillsborough? It Must Be in the Elections Office's Hands by 7 P.M. Tuesday, the Supervisor's Office Says
With early voting ending at 7 p.m. today, a Hillsborough voter still holding a Vote By Mail ballot has two reliable routes left: a Secure Ballot Intake Station at any early voting site before it closes tonight, or hand delivery to an elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
The deadline that matters for a Hillsborough mail ballot is not when it leaves your hands - it is when it reaches the elections office. The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections states the rule plainly on its Vote By Mail page: the voter must sign the return envelope, and the office must receive the voted ballot no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, for the ballot to count.
The office's own guidance makes mailing it now the risky route: voters who mail a ballot back are told to allow at least a week for it to reach the office, and there are only two days left. The in-person routes are a Secure Ballot Intake Station inside any of the county's 27 early voting locations during early voting hours - which end at 7 p.m. tonight, Sunday - or the elections offices during office hours through Election Day.
More than 300,000 Hillsborough voters had already cast ballots as of the Supervisor's October 30 update. A voter whose returned ballot is flagged for a signature issue still has a path: the county's voting guide lists a signature-cure deadline of 5 p.m. on November 5. Voters can confirm their ballot's status at VoteHillsborough.gov.
