Your ballot is in the mail. Check the next steps to vote in South Florida

Planning to vote from home in the November midterm elections? Get ready to check your mailbox.

Read more When do we change the clocks in South Florida? When will it get dark?

Mail-in ballots are in the mail, with the first batches sent out on Thursday, Sept. 24 and arriving in homes as early as Friday, Sept. 25.

Vote-by-mail ballots come with instructions to help you fill yours out correctly.

Mark your ballot in secret using a black or blue ballpoint pen, and make sure you sign your name in the red signature box on the back of the Voter’s Certificate envelope, or else your vote might not count.

Send the preprinted envelope back — it’s already addressed to the Supervisor of Elections office — so it arrives before or on Election Day, Nov. 3.

You can also drop your mail-in ballot off at an early voting location when they are open, or at your Supervisor of Elections office before 7 p.m. on Election Day.

If you don’t want to vote by mail, but you still want to vote before Election Day, in-person early voting in Miami-Dade and Broward runs Oct 19 through Nov. 1, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at designated centers.

If you want to vote on Election Day, you must go to your assigned precinct to cast your vote in person on Nov. 3.

Who’s on your ballot?

This ballot features a U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Ashley B. Moody, who has held the seat since last year, Democrat Angela Nixon and independent candidate Neil Gillespie.

Read more Former Miami surgeon guilty of killing lawyer, judge says. He faces death penalty

Also on the ballot are two former Miami news anchors running for a U.S. House of Representatives seat for District 27. Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, who has served since 2021 and who broadcast for Telemundo and Univision, faces Eliott Rodriguez, a Democrat who anchored at CBS News Miami and WPLG-Local 10.

Voters also will also decide Florida’s next governor to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. The race features Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly.

READ MORE: Voters need to know this: There’s a deadline for mail ballots in South Florida

Did you request a ballot?

Did you ask for a ballot yet? Your request for a mail ballot must be received by your county’s election department by 5 p.m. Oct. 22. That’s the traditional deadline of 12 days before the election set by Florida to allow for processing and delivering your ballot.

If you received a mail-in ballot for the August election, you should also receive one for the November election. But you must submit a new request in 2027 for future mail-in ballots.

Here’s where to request a ballot:

Miami-Dade has an online portal to request a ballot. Or call 305-499-8444 or email [email protected].

Broward has an online portal to request a vote-by-mail ballot. Or call 954-357-8683 or email [email protected].

Read more Former Miami surgeon guilty of killing lawyer, judge says. He faces death penalty