Tropicana Field is the latest sports venue in the Tampa Bay region that is being used during the upcoming election.
But unlike Raymond James Stadium and the Amalie Arena in Tampa, the St. Petersburg home of the Tampa Bay Rays will not serve as an early voting site.
Instead, voters will be able to drive up and drop off their mail-in ballots at the Trop's Gate 1 from Oct. 19 through Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
“I want to thank the Rays for offering their facility and understanding that voters in Pinellas County overwhelmingly choose mail ballots. We sincerely appreciate the Rays working closely with us in providing their facility is as a ballot drop-off location and recognizing our needs are different than the needs of other counties," Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus said in a press release Thursday. "Having more than 50% of Pinellas voters who have requested mail ballots and two early voting sites within 2.5 miles of Tropicana Field, we are thrilled that the Trop will be used as our 25th ballot drop-off location and our fifth mail ballot drive-thru location.”
Pinellas County voters can go to VotePinellas.com to request a mail ballot, check the status of their mail ballot, and get a list of all ballot drop-off locations.
No mail ballot drop-off locations will be open on Election Day, and voters may return voted mail ballots to any Supervisor of Elections Office from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.
And for those wondering about what might be going on inside Tropicana Field during early voting - Major League Baseball playoffs are scheduled to begin Sept. 29, with the World Series set to start Oct. 23.
