It costs $1.01 to mail in a ballot, more than it is to send a letter across the country.
That’s because the two-page ballot weighs more than your average letter. But some voters don’t know this.
Certain counties, like Hillsborough and Pinellas, pay the cost of postage for voters, sending them a prepaid envelope with their ballot that does not require a stamp.
However, other counties, like Pasco and Sarasota, don’t.
Brian Corley, Pasco County Supervisor of Elections, said his county does not pay for postage because it would not be fair to in-person voters.
"How is it different than early voting?” he asked. “You know, I don't give a gas stipend for you to drive. I don't give you $1.50 of gas to drive to your early voting site or your Election Day polling place."
He said the counties that do pay for postage use taxpayer dollars to do so.
A Forever Stamp is currently worth 73 cents, so two stamps will be more than enough to cover the cost to mail in a ballot. For those who want to save the 45 cents, exact postage can be purchased at a post office.
Those that don’t want to pay to mail in their ballot can drop it off at their local Supervisor of Elections office.
With just over two weeks until Election Day, Pasco County had sent out around 80,000 vote-by-mail ballots. As of Oct. 17, it had received about 25,000 back already.
"Voters are definitely energized and engaged … for where we are now, that's actually pretty good,” Corley said. “I'm quite pleased with that."
He encouraged people to vote by mail early because “you never know what’s going to come your way.”
He also said voting by mail allows people to skip the long lines at the polling booths during early voting and Election Day.
“It’s a sign of vibrant democracy, but it’s going to be longer than people want,” Corley said. “I’m certain of that.”
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot was Oct. 24. The last day ballots could be mailed to voters was Oct. 26. Mail-in ballots must be received by the supervisor of elections offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day, regardless of the postmarked date.
