Early voting will begin in Lee County primary races this Saturday as Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle announced that voters have until this Thursday to request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot for the primary election.

Voters can request their ballot online, by emailing votebymail@lee.vote or calling 239-533-8683. Voters can also track the status of their ballot at Lee.vote.

The deadline to return a Vote-by-Mail Ballot to the Lee County Supervisor of Elections is by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 20.

Early voting in person will be held ahead of the primary from Saturday, Aug. 10, to Saturday, Aug. 17, at 12 locations throughout the county.

A list of the locations can be found at: www.lee.vote/Early-Voting-Information/Early-Voting-Dates-and-Locations.

The closest site to Fort Myers Beach is Lakes Regional Library at 15290 Bass Road.

Voters returning their ballot by mail are suggested to mail their ballot no later than Tuesday, Aug. 13, to ensure timely receipt.

Hand-delivered ballots may be dropped off at any of the Lee County Elections Offices, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or on Election Day, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Vote-by-Mail Ballots may also be dropped off at authorized Secure Ballot Intake Stations located at each Early Voting site during the Early Voting period.

Check your signatures

Lee County election officials are checking signatures to match those on file for vote-by-mail ballots and at the voting booth. Make sure your ballot is signed and matches your regular signature.

In 2022, the office flagged 88 signatures that were deemed not to match by the office of the Lee County Supervisor of Elections, including one by a Fort Myers Beach voter. The office also flagged 108 ballots for missing signatures.

“We make every attempt to notify voters throughout the election,” said Gaby Aguirre, a Lee County Elections Office spokesperson. “In addition to mail, our office will contact them by email and phone if we have that information on file.”

Voters will have until the Thursday after the election to correct a signature or verify their signature.

Voters can go online to the Lee County Supervisor of Elections website to fill out an application to change or update a signature or do so at an elections office. Voters have up to the day before the elections office processes vote-by-mail ballots to update their signatures, Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle said. Voters flagged for a signature can fill out an affidavit and replace their signatures with a new one.

The county’s supervisor of elections has a canvassing board that reviews all signatures which Doyle said includes an employee of the office, a judge and a state attorney investigator.

Voters can also update their signatures on their licenses at the local DMV office for those voting in person though Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle said that is not ultimately necessary as voters can always update their signature before voting if there is an issue with an elections official.

Doyle said his office is trying to get the department of motor vehicles to make the process for license signatures better.

“A lot of signatures from the DMV are not very good,” he said.

“If you go to the poll both and you have a picture ID, the poll worker is looking at you. The signatures don’t have to match. They have to verify it’s you by looking at you,” he said. Poll workers can also check signatures against past signatures.