Voting by Mail in 2022: Just the Facts

Here’s what you need to know if you want to vote by mail in Pinellas County in 2022. 

Request your mail ballot.

You can request a mail ballot by calling the Supervisor of Elections office at (727) 464-8683 or completing the online request form. You will have to provide a Florida driver’s license number, a Florida ID card number, or the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. 

You can request a mail ballot any time before Election Day, but if you request it within 10 days of Election Day you will have to go down to one of the Supervisor of Elections offices and pick it up in person.

Not sure if you already have an active mail ballot request? You can check here.

Receive your mail ballot.

Mail ballots are mailed to voters 33-40 days before the election (or within a few days of when you request it, if you request it within a month of Election Day). You can also choose to pick your mail ballot up from the Supervisor of Elections office. If your ballot is lost in the mail, or damaged, or you make a mistake, you can call the Supervisor of Elections office at (727) 464-8683 and get a new one. 

Return your mail ballot.

After you fill out your mail ballot, put it in the secrecy sleeve and then put it in the return envelope that came with it. Make sure you sign your mail ballot envelope. This is really important. Missing signatures are one of the main reasons that mail ballots get rejected. We strongly recommend that you write your phone number and/or email address on the envelope as well. That way, the Supervisor of Elections can easily contact you if there is any problem with your signature.

Your mail ballot must reach the Supervisor of Elections office by 7:00pm on Election Day.

Late ballots won’t be counted. There are a few different ways to get it in on time: 

  • You can mail your ballot. Be sure to mail it at least 2 weeks before Election Day so that it arrives on time. A postmark date is not enough.
  • You can drop off your ballot at any one of the three Supervisor of Elections offices any time during opening hours, before or even on Election Day. You can find hours and locations HERE. All three offices are open from 7:00am to 7:00pm on Election Day.
  • You can drop your ballot off in an official, secure drop box. For the August primary and the November general elections, there may be an official drop box within a few miles of your home. Check www.VotePinellas.com for hours and locations. (There are no extra drop boxes for the March municipal elections.)
  • You can ask an immediate family member or someone else who you trust to drop off your ballot for you. However, please note that a voter may only deliver ballots for immediate family members and ballots for maximum two other voters per election. 

Track your ballot.

It is important to Track Your Mail Ballot online to make sure it arrived on time and there are no problems. If there is a problem, call the Supervisor of Elections office immediately at 727-464-8683 to find out how to fix it! 

One last thing!

Avoid this common mistake. You can’t just drop off your completed mail ballot at your regular polling place on Election Day. But don’t worry, you can still vote! You will just have to exchange your mail ballot for an in-person ballot and then fill out the in-person ballot instead.

And remember, if you face any problems with requesting your mail ballot or voting by mail, you can call the nationwide, nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE!

Updated October 2020

Due to the failure of Congress to pass the DREAM Act, the President instituted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy in 2012. This executive order allowed certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 15, 2012, to receive a renewable two-year work permit as well as an exemption from deportation.

Facts You Should Know

Facts about DACA:

  • To apply for DACA, individuals must pay a $495 application fee, submit numerous forms, and produce documentation showing they meet the requirements.
  • DACA does not grant legal status to an applicant or negate a prior period of unlawful presence.
  • DACA individuals pay income and social security taxes, but are exempt from the requirement to have health insurance.
  • As of March 31, 2020, there have been almost 3 million requests (combined initial and renewal) for DACA protection.

Recent Litigation on DACA:

  • In September 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it was ending DACA. In response several lawsuits were filed against the administration for terminating DACA unlawfully. The results: three nationwide injunctions issued by U.S. district courts — in California, New York, and the District of Columbia — have allowed people who have previously had DACA to renew their deferred action.
  • On November 12, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on DACA. The Supreme Court did not “stay” any of the lower court orders, which meant that DACA recipients who have or previously had DACA can continue to submit applications.
  • On June 18, 2020, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the current administration did not provide an adequate justification for ending DACA, allowing the program to remain in place. The current 661,000 DACA holders retain their protections and can continue to seek renewals with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, allowing them to work legally and without fear of deportation. The decision paves the way for USCIS to resume taking new applications for DACA from an estimated 66,000 qualified Dreamers who currently are not protected under the policy.
  • On July 28, 2020, a new DACA policy was announced that would no longer accept new applications and would allow existing DACA recipients to renew their protections for only one year. This is in defiance to both the US Supreme Court ruling and the July 17, 2020, federal court order to begin accepting new DACA applications immediately.
Printer Friendly PDF

Updated October 2020

The Executive Branch consists of the offices of the President and Vice President and the executive agencies created to administer the laws enacted by the Legislative Branch. The President enforces the federal laws, serves as commander in chief, and appoints judges and other officials. Among the President’s powers are his ability to declare executive orders, memoranda, and proclamations, which are directives to the Executive Branch. Every President except William Henry Harrison has issued executive orders, including George Washington.

The Legislative Branch (Congress) includes the House of Representatives, whose membership is determined by the population of the states, and the Senate, which is composed of two people for every state. The Legislative Branch makes the laws, including the laws relating to immigration.

The Judicial Branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which hears cases that involve either a Constitutional issue (including the Constitutionality of an executive order) or a dispute among the lower courts. Immigration courts are not part of the Judicial Branch; those courts fall under the Executive Branch, specifically the Department of Justice.

The three branches are separate and autonomous. However, the Constitution includes checks and balances to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. Another check was created in 1946: the Administrative Procedures Act, with which the President and his executive agencies must comply when issuing any executive orders or new agency rules.

Facts You Should Know

Significant developments in immigration have been accomplished by executive orders. Examples include:

  • During WWII, President Roosevelt sent U.S. citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps.
  • President Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012.
  • President Trump has issued over a dozen executive orders in an effort to limit immigration.

In recent years, more developments regarding immigration have occurred through executive orders, because:

  • Congress has been unable to agree on a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and
  • Congress has been unable to pass a budget, which gives the President the opportunity to allocate money with less obstruction.

Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump issued a series of executive orders seeking to ban people from specified Muslim countries from entering the country (the “Travel Ban”). A federal district court entered an injunction against the first Travel Ban on the grounds that it likely violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Constitution. However, a second and third version of the Travel Ban were promulgated and, in 2018, the Supreme Court allowed the Travel Ban to remain in effect while the legal challenges (which continue to date) proceeded. In January 2020, a fourth executive order added six more countries to the Travel Ban.

In 2017, President Trump issued a memorandum through the Department of Homeland Security rescinding President Obama’s executive order on DACA. In June 2020, the Supreme Court overruled President Trump’s memorandum (thus upholding DACA) on the grounds it violated the APA by not providing an adequate reason for such rescission.

Fewer than 4% of all executive orders have been revoked.

Printer Friendly PDF

June, 2020

On May 7, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) implemented a zero tolerance policy toward illegal border crossing both to discourage illegal migration into the United States and reduce the burden of processing asylum claims that Administration officials contend are often fraudulent. The stated goal of the policy is to prosecute all of the prosecutions referred to the DOJ “to the extent practicable.” With limited resources, no Administration has been able to prosecute 100% of the illegal crossings.

Prior Administrations focused on individuals, and did not prosecute families. The current Administration reversed this, ignoring individuals and prosecuting families. Criminally prosecuting adults for illegal border crossing requires detaining them in federal facilities, where children are not permitted.

A 2015 court settlement requires that separated children must be removed from immigration detention centers within 20 days. Since the parents are still in custody, due to huge backlog of cases, the children are turned over to Health and Human Services (HHS) for care. The Administration had no effective system for tracking and reconnecting the parents and children.

Facts You Should Know

  • Family arrests increased from 11,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 to 68,560 in the first nine months of FY 2018. In FY 2019 the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol apprehended more than 474,000 minor children and adults traveling as families and about 76,000 unaccompanied children along our Southwest border.
  • The national origin of the families has shifted from Mexico to mostly Central America.
  • Physical presence in the United States without proper authorization is a civil violation, not a criminal offense. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can deport individuals, but cannot charge them with a criminal offense based solely on a civilian infraction.
  • Per Title 8 of the US Code it is a crime to enter or re-enter the United States:
    • Without proper inspection at a port of entry or when one makes false statements while entering or attempting to enter. A first offense is a misdemeanor with by a fine, up to six months in prison or both.
    • After having been deported, ordered removed, or denied admission. This crime is punishable as a felony with a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Higher penalties apply, if the person was previously removed.
  • The US Department of Homeland Security estimates that in FY 2020 detention will cost taxpayers approximately $130 per bed for those in adult detention, $269 per bed for those in family detention and over $2.5 billion total for the year.

  • There are alternatives that are more humane and cost-effective than detention.

    Be Informed. Vote Informed.

    Printer Friendly PDF

Updated October, 2020

In 1985, two organizations filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of immigrant children detained by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) challenging procedures regarding the detention, treatment, and release of children. After many years of litigation, including an appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the parties reached a settlement in 1997.

The Flores Settlement Agreement imposed several obligations on the immigration authorities.

  • The government is required to release children from immigration detention in this priority of preference:
  • Parents, other adult relatives as well as licensed programs willing to accept custody.

Where a suitable placement is not immediately available, the government is obligated to place children in the “least restrictive” setting.

The Unaccompanied Alien Children program was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, effective on March 1, 2003. Once the ORR assumed responsibility, the Flores Settlement was implemented.

  • Facts You Should Know

  • 2014: the federal government responded to an increase in the number of children seeking protection at the border by increasing the number of family detention beds from 90 to 3,700. The government pursued an policy of incarcerating thousands of families while attempting to block their release on bond or parole.
  • 2015: U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rules that the federal government’s family detention policy violated the terms of the Flores Settlement Agreement.
  • 2016: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirms that the Flores Agreement applies to accompanied minors in addition to unaccompanied minors.
  • 2017: The District Court finds that the government is failing to comply with its obligations under Flores.
  • 2018: The Administration has sought to expand and entrench the use of family incarceration. Two executive orders by President Trump, issued in January 2017 and in June 2018, called for the incarceration of asylum seekers and migrants for the pendency of their immigration cases.
  • 2019: U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee issued a permanent injunction, blocking the government from implementing new regulations that would expand its ability to detain migrant children with their parents for indefinite periods of time. The Justice Department had urged the judge to allow the Trump administration to withdraw from the Flores Settlement Agreement. (Flores v. Barr, 9/27/19). Her decision was sent to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • 2020: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “vacated” oral arguments that had been scheduled for April due to COVID-19.

Be Informed. Vote Informed.

Printer Friendly PDF

June, 2020

A permanent resident is an immigrant who has been granted authorization to live and work in the U.S. on a permanent basis. A Permanent Resident Card, commonly called a green card, is provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as proof of the individual’s status.

The major benefit of having a green card is the ability for a non-citizen to be employed in the U.S. Other benefits of having a green card include:

  • Eligible to receive federal benefits (such as Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), food stamps (SNAP), SSI or TANF, Medicare or Section 8 subsidized housing) after they have been in the U.S. with permanent resident status for at least 5 years;
  • Ability to sponsor relatives to apply for their own green cards;
  • Eligible for in-state tuition in many states, including Florida, at state colleges, universities and technical schools;
  • For shorter trips (6 months of less), international travel from the U.S. is much easier for non-citizens holding a green card; and
  • After five years, a Legal Permanent Resident may apply for U.S. citizenship.

    Facts You Should Know

    Federal law establishes eligibility criteria for permanent residency. Eligibility categories include:

  • Family: In broad terms, this includes immediate family members of a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, fiancée of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or the child of such fiancée, widow(er) of a U.S. citizen;
  • Employment: Includes individuals who have special skills, educational degrees or abilities, certain physicians who will work in an underserved area, or immigrant investors who will provide jobs;
  • Special Immigrant: In general, this includes religious workers, abused children, translators for the U.S., NATO retirees, international broadcasters;
  • Refugee or Asylee;
  • Human trafficking, crime victims, and people subjected to abuse;
  • Other Categories: Includes those who receive a visa under the U.S. Department of State’s diversity visa lottery, certain natives or citizens of Cuba, Haiti or Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos);
  • Registry: May be available to those who have resided continuously in the U.S. prior to Jan. 1, 1972.

  • On April 22, 2020 the President issued an Executive Order to temporarily suspend the approval of green cards. However there are a number exceptions.

    The eligibility criteria under each of these categories is complex and subject to change.

Be Informed. Vote Informed.

Printer Friendly PDF

June, 2020

The Homestead Child Detention Center is located in South Florida about a 30 minute drive from Miami. The facility was a former Job Corps training site. In 2016 it was converted to use as a temporary detention center for unaccompanied minors crossing the border, but it was closed in 2017. In March of 2018, the center was reactivated and over 14,300 minors have been sheltered there. In mid-July, 2019 the center’s child population began to rapidly decline, and all of the children were removed by August 3rd.

Facts You Should Know

  • With 3,200 beds at its peak, children remained an average of 67 days before being released to a sponsor.
  • Homestead is the only child shelter for immigrants that’s run by a for-profit corporation, Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., which won a no-bid contract at a cost of over $1 million per day.
  • Located on a federal military base, the facility was not subject to state laws and regulation.
  • Since the Administration stopped the family separation policy, over 900 children have been separated from their families: 481 less than 10 years of age and 185 less than 5 years.
  • In 2018, Protesters, which included members of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) gathered 128,000 signatures from opponents of the facility.
  • Though labeled as a “temporary influx facility,” when the shelter emptied taxpayers paid $720,000 a day: $600 a day for each of 1,200 empty beds at the military base facility. When children were present, the cost was $750 per child daily.
  • Many groups, including our League, and the media raised concerns to our elected officials in Congress and kept Homestead in the news. Between July 3, 2019 and August 3, 2109 all of the children were moved out of the facility. On October 28th — it was announced that this facility was permanently closing, and the contract with Caliburn was not being renewed when it ran out in November 2019.

    Congressional Oversight

  • HR 3401: Increased funding by $4.59 billion for care of migrants and unaccompanied alien children in detention centers. It included a requirement that mandatory reports from HHS regarding treatment and management of centers be sent to both House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
  • House Appropriations Committee Hearings: 9/18/19 Oversight Hearing: Mental Health Needs of Children in HHS Custody. Office of Refugee Resettlement, Inspector General and Public Health Corps.

    Recent federal legislation, passed by the House awaiting Senate action

  • H.R. 2203 Homeland Security Improvement Act: Establishes several policies and bodies related to border security, including a commission to investigate and make a complete accounting of the handling of migrant families and children at the southern border since January 2017. Limits when DHS may separate a child from a parent or a legal guardian.

  • H.R. 3525 U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act: Requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to establish procedures to ensure consistent and efficient medical screenings for all individuals stopped between ports of entry, with a priority on screening those who have not reached the age of 18. Requires each Border Patrol sector to have an on-site pediatric medical expert.

Where are the children?

Be Informed. Vote Informed.

Printer Friendly PDF

June, 2020

An immigrant is a person who chooses to resettle in another country. Immigrants come to the U.S. with the intention of living permanently here. Various terms are synonymous for those granted “documented” immigrant status by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS): Green Card Holder; Immigrant; Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR); Resident Alien.

Facts You Should Know

  • Any noncitizen who enters the United States legally has either an immigrant or non-immigrant status.
  • Examples of non-immigrants are those who come to the U.S. on a temporary basis, such as those who come for tourism, business, temporary employment or to study. Once a person comes to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant, that person is generally restricted to the activity for which he or she was allowed entry and will usually be limited as to the time the person may remain in the U.S..
  • The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA) gives preference to certain categories of individuals in determining who will be admitted as immigrants to the U.S. Priority is given to relatives of U.S. citizens, relatives of LPRs and to individuals with valuable employment-related skills.
  • Refugees are also a preferential category under the INA. 
 (For more information, refer to the Fact Sheet on Refugees.)
  • The INA establishes a per-country limitation, mandating that immigrants from any single country cannot exceed 7% of the total number of immigrants admitted in any fiscal year. Conversely, the INA sets aside a prescribed number of visas for immigrants from countries that have had low rates of immigration over the past 5 years.
  • LPRs can apply for U.S. citizenship after 5 years, or 3 years for certain classes.

  • According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2011-15 foreign-born individuals constituted 10.6% of the population of St. Petersburg and 11.6% of Pinellas County residents.

    Be Informed. Vote Informed.

    Printer Friendly PDF

June, 2020

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation is declared by the U. S. government with respect to specified countries for the following reasons: the safety of their citizens would be in jeopardy were they to be returned to their native country; or the country would be unable to absorb the return of its citizens. As of November 2018, the following countries had TPS designations:

El Salvador Haiti Honduras Nepal Syria
Nicaragua Somalia South Sudan Sudan Yemen

In November 2018 , the Administration announced that it would terminate TPS designation for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal Nicaragua and Sudan. Litigation stayed the termination of TPS status for all of these countries except Nepal and Honduras (these terminations had not been announced at start of litigation).

Facts You Should Know

  • Congress created TPS in the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide protections for individuals from countries that have an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or extraordinary or temporary conditions that make it unsafe for the individuals to return to the country.
  • Persons seeking TPS status must show that they were present in the U.S. on the date their home country was designated for temporary protected status. A person seeking TPS status must apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for TPS designation. Applicants who are eligible for TPS status receive a temporary stay of deportation and temporary authorization to work in the U.S.
  • What happens if an individual’s TPS status ends? If TPS status for a country is terminated, then TPS beneficiaries from that country are subject to deportation unless they otherwise qualify to remain in the U.S, for example if they were granted permanent residency and a green card.
  • TPS beneficiaries are not eligible for any public assistances. However, children and pregnant women who have TPS status have been determined to be “lawfully present” in the U.S. and, therefore, eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Also, persons who have TPS status are also eligible for affordable coverage options under the Affordable Care Act.
  • It is estimated that termination of TPS designation for Salvadoran, Haitian and Honduran beneficiaries would have a $4.5 billion adverse impact on U.S. GDP and that would impose $967 million in turnover costs on U.S. employers.

  • Of roughly 39,000 Haitians who have TPS designation, 20,900 (75%) live in Florida.

    Be Informed. Vote Informed.

    Printer Friendly PDF