GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Although there aren’t many races to be determined during the Primary Election on Aug. 20, as of Tuesday, July 23, there still have been 13,324 requests for mail-in ballots in Clay County.

Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless said there’s nothing easier than going to clayelections.gov, clicking Voter Information, then Request Mail Ballot, and filling out the information to vote.

“The high water mark was 87% of the vote happens before election day, either through early voting or vote by mail,” Chambless said. “The genesis of voting by mail is that previously, individuals requested a vote by mail ballot to get a preview of what would be on the ballot. If you request a vote by mail ballot and you don’t use it, you can still certainly vote (at a precinct).”

Chambless said the high water mark came during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2020 General Election, 43% of the country voted by mail to avoid the deadly virus. That number dropped in 2022 to 31.9%.

With 150,892 registered voters in Clay County, less than 9% of registered voters have requested mail-in ballots for the Primaries. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is 5 p.m. on Aug. 8.

The deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation was July 22. Florida is a closed primary state, which means only Republicans can vote for the Republican State Committeewoman seat between Helana Cormier, Tanya Cormier and Erin Skipper.

All voters will also be able to vote for the District 2 School Board race between Matthew Mitchell, Jim Hughes, Sharon Flowers and Robert Alvero.

The winners of those two races will automatically win those seats because they will be unopposed in the Nov. 5 General Election.

Nearly 500 mail-in ballots were also sent to Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act recipients who live outside the United States.

Once a mail-in ballot is received at the Elections Office, the barcode on the envelope is scanned to pull up the voter’s identification so the signature can be verified. Chambless said election office officials have all been trained to verify signatures.

If the signatures don’t match, the office will call, email or send a letter to ask for proof of identity. The vote will be tabulated once the signature is validated or they get an affidavit.

A year ago, during the General Election, the office sent out 39,470 mail-in requests, and it received 22,130 back with only 297 rejections — about 1%.

To be sure, Clay County employs an independent system to verify the final vote. And instead of using a few precincts selected by the state, Clay County has every ballot from every precinct matched with every vote to ensure no discrepancies, Chambless said. Moreover, he said not to take his word. Anyone is welcome to come in and witness the process.

“I have an independent system separate from the tabulation system that verifies that it was tabulating correctly,” he said.

Now that you know your vote will count, it’s up to you to vote. And it’s never been easier. Either request a vote by mail, vote early between Aug. 8 and Aug. 17 at one of seven locations or vote on Primary Elections Day on Aug. 20 only at your designated precinct. To find your precinct, visit clayelections.gov/Elections-Information.