ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – It’s something many people might not be aware of. This year, in some places, absentee ballots require extra postage.
The issue was pointed out to us by an Action News viewer who called it a “disturbing discovery.”
“For a St. Johns County absentee ballot, it takes 65 cents or two stamps,” explained St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes.
The additional postage requirement is also that way in Nassau and Clay counties. In Duval County, the postage will be provided for you.
But we’ve learned those three counties (St. Johns, Nassau, and Clay) have worked out an agreement with the post office where absentee ballots with insufficient postage will not be returned. The elections office will pick up the tab for the postage due.
St. Johns County has also set up numerous absentee ballot drop-off boxes across the county where stamps will not be necessary. Those locations include the Supervisor of Elections Office, Bartram Trail Branch Library, Southeast Branch Library, Main Library, Hastings Library, Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library, St. Augustine Beach City Hall, St. Johns County Agricultural Extension office, the City of St. Augustine’s Financial Services Center, and the Tax Collectors offices in Julington Creek and Ponte Vedra.
"They want to make sure they get those ballots back to us in time to be counted,” said Oakes.
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is October 31. They must be returned no later than 7pm on Election Day.
