CLAY COUNTY – Early voting for the primary election ends on Saturday, Aug. 17. The Clay County Supervisor of Elections Office will accept mail-in ballots for the primary, regardless of the postmark, at its office at 500 N. Orange Ave. in Green Cove Springs on the election date, Aug. 20. The only exemptions are for overseas ballots which are accepted until Aug. 30 as long as they have a postmark before Aug. 20.

Then, the process resets for the general election on Nov. 5, but the same rules apply.

Since less than half of registered voters usually cast ballots in the primary election – and even fewer were expected this year because there were so few matchups – it’s essential to be informed before you perform your most important duty as a citizen.

The best way to do this is to be an informed voter, Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless said.

“If you don’t have faith in the system, are you going to participate? What happens is you become the virus that infects other people from not participating,” he said. “We have too many people sitting on the sidelines. You need to get some skin in the game. We’re here if anyone wants to see how we do.”

Whether you’re going to be a late-minute voter in the primary or preparing for the general election, the first step is checking your registration status at VoterStatusClay.com, where you can find your precinct, view your sample ballot and make sure your address is up to date.

Suppose you plan to vote in person in the primary. In that case, any registered voter can vote at any of the seven early voting sites – the Florida Department of Health Clay County office on Fleming Island, Middleburg Civic Center, Supervisor of Elections Office in Green Cove Springs, the Thrasher-Horne Center in Orange Park, Keystone Heights City Hall, Eagle Landing Residents Club and the Orange Park Library until Saturday.

During the general election, you can only vote at your designated precinct. To find yours, visit VoterStatusClay.com or clayelections.gov.

When you vote in person at either the primary or general elections, you must have a valid form of identification that includes a signature or photo or two pieces of ID with a photo on one and a signature on the other. The elections office accepts a variety of identifications, so visit clayelections.gov to see what to bring.

“We use forensic signature recognition,” Chambless said. “We’re looking at how you start your signature, the way that you end your signature. Do they use that cute little circle smiley face above the I? Do the letters always lean to the right or the left? Do they have daggers? Does he have little strokes that go up high, and are all those forensic indications of his signature?"

Chambless said knowing the sample ballot before arriving at the polls is essential.

“We don’t want voters to walk into the voting booth and look at that ballot for the very first time,” he said. “Make sure you read the amendments before you get to the polls. Do you know what your ballot looks like? Are you able to know exactly what the amendments say?”

Amendments are often written in confusing ways, where voting “yes” means voting against a proposal.

Clay County may add a local amendment, Chambless said. The state will have six – making school board members partisan candidates, ensuring the rights to hunt and fish, allowing recreational marijuana, expanding abortion access until fetal viability (generally considered 24 weeks), allowing for homestead exemption annual inflation adjustments and repealing public campaign funding for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agricultural officer campaigns.

“We’re probably going to have a very long ballot, and so the whole idea is for you to be able to be an informed voter,” Chambless said.

Anyone who wants to register for the general election can do it online at clayelections.gov, in person at the elections office, RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov, the driver’s license, public assistance, armed forces recruitment offices, public libraries and offices that serve people with disabilities.

For information on requesting a Vote By Mail Ballot or Early Voting for the general election, visit clayelection.gov.

The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 7. The general election is Nov. 5.