{"id":668,"date":"2026-05-19T18:01:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=668"},"modified":"2026-05-19T18:01:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:01:49","slug":"be-sure-to-do-this-if-youre-renewing-your-florida-drivers-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=668","title":{"rendered":"Be sure to do this if you\u2019re renewing your Florida driver\u2019s license"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been less than two years since a new Florida law went into effect that assigned drivers new ID numbers when they renew their licenses.<\/p>\n

Read more Florida Power & Light\u2019s parent company moves to acquire Dominion Energy<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But as midterms approach, it\u2019s unclear if this seemingly innocuous bureaucratic maneuver will cause voter confusion relating to mail ballots and petitions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an issue, but more of a bureaucratic glitch than anything else,\u201d said Brad Ashwell, Florida state director for All Voting is Local. \u201cI thought we\u2019d gotten the word out about it, but we\u2019re hearing that it\u2019s a growing concern in some counties. It\u2019s another hurdle that people have to deal with when it comes to voting by mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The issue is that a new online request for a mail ballot won\u2019t be approved if the driver\u2019s license number doesn\u2019t match what the elections office has on file. Voters must use either their driver\u2019s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number to verify their request for a mail ballot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Similarly, voters who sign onto a petition could get their petition tossed if there\u2019s a disparity in the driver\u2019s license number.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Upon getting denied the mail ballot request or alerted about the rejected petition, voters can provide the new driver\u2019s license number to the elections office.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Voters have plenty of time to get this done. Mail ballots won\u2019t go out for the Aug. 18 primary for another two months. Candidates still are qualifying to run.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But voting rights groups say mismatched driver IDs are another hoop that voters must jump through to get a mail ballot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes things more complicated,\u201d said Jessica Lowe-Minor, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. \u201cVoters may be surprised when they request a mail ballot and are denied.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Blame much of the uncertainty on a legislative double whammy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In 2021, Florida\u2019s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a voting bill that addressed the false premise that elections were rife with fraud.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition to creating an election crimes office and tougher penalties for fraud, the new law required that voters wanting a mail ballot must request one every election cycle. In addition, to receive a ballot by mail, voters must provide a Florida driver\u2019s license number, state identification card number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Because the voter registration form asks for the driver\u2019s license first, many voters only provide that, even though other forms of ID are accepted.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What complicates this form of identification is what happened the following year. The Legislature passed a bill that required that people be assigned a new driver\u2019s license number upon renewal rather than letting them retain their existing number. Lawmakers said swapping out IDs was necessary to better prevent identity theft and fraud.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But if an elections office has that old driver\u2019s license in the voter registration file, then a new request for a mail ballot cannot be verified online if the driver recently renewed their driver\u2019s license but didn\u2019t provide their new driver ID.<\/p>\n

Read more Stabbing leads police to shut down part of Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to a separate agency, the tax collector offices processing the drivers\u2019 licenses, to remind applicants that they should update their voter information at their elections office.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a good system,\u201d said Mike Fasano, Pasco County\u2019s tax collector. \u201cIf our system is requiring that someone gets a new driver\u2019s license number every time they renew, it should be the state that updates the other agencies that have that old number on file. If we leave it to the voter, there are some who may not know what to do. I don\u2019t want to impede in any way someone from requesting a mail ballot. This is concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The new driver\u2019s license number requirement didn\u2019t go into effect until July 2024. Even though that was a presidential election year, only a small percentage of voters would have had new driver IDs by then. Now, after nearly two years of drivers getting their licenses renewed, the population of drivers likely to encounter the issue this year is higher.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One such voter is Kathleen Tobin, a St. Petersburg resident who last week renewed her license at the Pinellas County Tax Collector\u2019s Office at the 34th Street N office.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A clerk told Tobin that she only needed to update her voter registration information if she was changing parties or had moved. Updating her voting information was a simple matter of checking a box on the license renewal, but the clerk told Tobin it wasn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tobin knew better. She volunteers at a voting rights group. She\u2019s also a journalist with 30 years experience who retired recently from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns the Tampa Bay Times.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She pressed the employee to check with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office. Its website reminds voters to update their information when they renew. Sure enough, when the employee checked online, she saw that Tobin was right.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is it possible that the proper information has still not gotten to employees who work in the Tax Collector\u2019s Office and renew driver\u2019s licenses?\u201d Tobin said. \u201cMany Pinellas residents updating their drivers\u2019 licenses won\u2019t know to question the Tax Collector\u2019s Office on this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Adam Ross, the Pinellas County tax collector, said he\u2019s spoken with his employees about this incident and will make sure they understand how to instruct drivers getting their renewals. He said he\u2019ll also put signs in the lobby encouraging drivers to update their voter registration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ross said he\u2019ll also try to better share license updates with the Supervisor of Elections Office. Lawmakers this year passed a requirement that new driver IDs are shared automatically with the state elections office, but that doesn\u2019t go into effect until January 2027.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Until then, elections officials will be warning voters to update their information.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last year, Pinellas sent postcards to 238,000 voters and an email to another 87,000 telling them to renew their requests for mail ballots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So far, the office has 150,000 mail ballot requests. That\u2019s about half of what it usually has at this time.<\/p>\n

Read more New Miami case casts Alex Saab as architect of Venezuela\u2019s shadow oil trade<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 12:39 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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