How to Register to Vote in Florida: Too Late for Tuesday, but Registration for the Next Election Never Closed
'How to register to vote' is one of the most-searched questions in America today. For Florida, the honest answer has two parts: registration for Tuesday's election closed weeks ago - and registration for every election after Tuesday is open right now.
It is the question Tampa Bay is asking on the eve of the election - 'how to register to vote' is among the top trending searches in the United States today - and Florida's answer starts with the part nobody wants to hear. Florida closes voter registration 29 days before an election, which means the books for Tuesday, November 3 closed in early October. There is no same-day registration in Florida, and no election office can add a new voter for Tuesday at this point.
If you are already registered, Tuesday is yours: polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your assigned precinct in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties, and a mail ballot can still be hand-delivered to an elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday - it cannot be surrendered at a polling place in exchange for a regular ballot without following the precinct's own procedure, so the elections office is the safe stop. Voters unsure of their status or precinct can check both through their county Supervisor of Elections before they leave home.
For everyone who missed the deadline, the useful news is that registration never actually stops. Floridians can register - or update an address, name or party - at any time through the state's official online portal, RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov, or on paper through their county Supervisor of Elections office. A registration filed now will not count for Tuesday, but it puts the voter on the books for the next election on Florida's calendar, and it takes minutes. The worst answer to today's search is assuming it is too late to matter; the accurate one is: too late for Tuesday, right on time for what comes next.
