Lee County election official clarifies confusing mail notice

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FORT MYERS, Fla. – If you’re registered to vote in Lee County, you may have received a notice in the mail that left you confused.

After her office issued what many considered a poorly worded mail notice, the Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington, clarified the confusion.

Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington said voters were calling into her office – many of them concerned – about a particular sentence in a letter about upcoming primary elections.

The sentence read: “You will not be turned away if you do not have proper identification.”

Without further explanation, many voters worried about the integrity of the polls.

Harrington said Tuesday that the sentence is true, but refers to voters who arrive to polls in March without an I.D, say, if they forgot it. In short: only registered voters can vote.

Those who fail to bring identification will not be allowed to submit a standard ballot.

“You are going to vote on a provisional ballot,” Harrington said. “It’s a standard regular ballot just goes in a different envelope. It does not go into the machine, until we can verify you are who you say you are.”

The elections office will then check the date of birth, precinct and signature and compare the provided information to its official records. A provisional vote will only be counted if information matches.

In order to cast a vote via a regular ballot, registered voters should bring all required identification to their designated precinct.

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