Voters urged to consider mail-in ballots during pandemic

President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden racked up more delegates Tuesday after voters in seven states and the District of Columbia went to the polls, but how comfortable are you with voting in person during a pandemic?

When it comes to voting in this year’s primary and general election, some people said the coronavirus pandemic isn’t stopping them from heading to the polls in person.

“I like to vote in person,” said Cyndi Grace of Fort Myers.

“I still, if I’m able to, plan to do a live vote if I’m able to,” said Patrick Tanner of Cape Coral.

“If they can send people to Walmart and Menard’s and Home Depot and Lowe’s, then we should be able to make it to the polling place,” said Richard Standish, who lives in Lee County.

John Colon said he plans to take a different route.

“I’m going to mail in, yeah,” he said. “Do what you can do for yourself and do what you can do for others.”

That’s exactly what the supervisors of elections in Lee and Collier counties are asking you to do.

“With this pandemic, it’s even more serious, so I’m telling voters to request your vote by mail because you don’t know what’s going to happen in August or November so you’re ready to vote,” said Tommy Doyle, supervisor of elections in Lee County.

“We’re really trying to have individuals cast their ballots during this time period, not only because of the potential of shortage in election workers but also because we don’t want voters standing in line close to each other in a room,” said Trish Robertson, public relations officer for the Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office.

Some voters said they have reservations about voting by mail.

“I feel like there’s a lot of mail-in ballot fraud going on,” said Ryan Arevalo of Lee County.

Those who oversee the elections said it’s perfectly safe to mail your ballot in.

“We have no evidence of any mass fraud whatsoever. I think it’s very secure,” Doyle said.

“Our vote by mail ballots are the first to be reported on election night,” Robertson said.

They said this is a step toward keeping everyone healthy and able to vote this election season.

Robertson said more than 70,000 voters have already requested mail-in ballots in Collier County.

The Florida primary is Aug. 18, and the deadline to request your mail-in ballot is Aug. 8.

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