Vote-by-mail ballots returned could double in Florida this election

Mail in ballots could double in Florida this election

The state has already received over 6,600 returned ballots.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The 2020 Presidential Election is about five weeks away and many Florida voters have already sent in their mail-in ballots.

The Department of State reported that more than 6,600 ballots were returned on Saturday.

Over five million ballots have been requested for the upcoming election.

Florida could be on track to double the number of people who voted by mail in the 2016 election. In 2016, when 3.47 million vote-by-mail ballots were sent out, Republicans returned 1.08 million of the ballots and Democrats returned 1.03 million.

Florida requires voters to request mail-in ballots before elections officials can provide them. The state adopted its “no-excuse” absentee-voting system in 2002, and in 2016 switched the name from “absentee” to “vote-by-mail.” Floridians have until Oct. 5 to register to vote.

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest election updates.