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!

It’s a safe assumption that most people can acknowledge the importance of education as it pertains to near every facet of our lives. Education is critical to our meritocratic concept of the American dream and social mobility, the continued facilitation of our democratic goals, and to producing innovative and exceptional talent. 

When considering how racism and education might interact, a common starting place is typically Brown v. Board of Education which declared the “separate but equal” standard unconstitutional. However, separate and unequal has remained the tradition for American public schools.

Today, these schools are just as or more segregated than they were in the 1960s. The Economic Policy Institute even finds that Black children are five times more likely to attend highly segregated schools than white children. Or as Brookings details, two-thirds of minority students still attend schools that are predominantly comprised of minority students.

Let us discuss how housing and education are tied to one another. We understand now that specific government action paired with interpersonal violence was used to segregate this nation. If our nation denied emancipated slaves an economic basis, specifically designated portions of our cities for minorities, industrialized those areas in a purposeful attempt to craft poorer living conditions, barred equal entry to the labor force, and met Black success with violence – it should serve as no surprise that those neighborhoods remain in comparable conditions today. 

In most states, not even the highest-achieving Black and Hispanic students get access to algebra in the eighth grade, although it is more commonplace for their white peers.

Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust

Interested in advocating for education in St. Petersburg? Join our Education Team!

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The legacy of such practices continues to be felt in education due, in large part, to the fact that schools are funded by property and locally raised taxes. The condition of neighborhoods, and thus the implementation of deliberate impoverishment, have a direct impact on the schools associated with a given neighborhood. Today, predominantly white school districts receive $23 billion more per year than their non-white counterparts. Thus, not only was a specific campaign led to the erosion of the general quality of minority communities but specifically, the education afforded to their residents.

The crippling nature of this underfunding impacts a number of measures essential to academic success. These schools tend to have minimal instructional resources; fewer high-quality books, scanty labs and computers, larger classes, and incomplete curriculums. Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, noted that when you analyze higher-level math class enrollment, “In most states, not even the highest-achieving black and Hispanic students get access to algebra in the eighth grade, although it’s more commonplace for their white peers.”

Schools with denser populations of minority students have also consistently been found employing underqualified teachers with less education, less training, less experience, and are less likely to be certified. A relevant study found that students who spent three years in a row with an ineffective teacher, whom minority students are twice as likely to be assigned to, score approximately 50 percentile points lower on academic assessments.

The research that served as the basis for the Brown v. Board of Education decision laid bare the ever-present bias within our systems which consistently reproduce an association between blackness and various negative traits. This remains in effect today as we see that Black children are disproportionately punished within schools. As early as preschool, Black children are more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts, representing 18% of the preschool population but near half of the suspensions. Further on in their schooling, Black children are expelled from school at a rate three times that of their white peers. 

As police presence in schools becomes more prevalent, research is ultimately found to be inconclusive as to whether their presence has any impact on school safety, but they are associated with an increase in disciplinary action and arrests. Despite Black students representing approximately 15% of overall enrollment in the 2013-14 school year, they made up about one-third of in-school arrests. Black students consistently face these consequences at greater rates even when they’ve enacted the same or less serious actions than white students.

Despite Black students representing approximately 15% of overall enrollment in the 2013-14 school year, they made up about one-third of in-school arrests.

Education Week

The prevalence of comprehensive sex education amongst America’s public schools represents a crisis in and of itself. These programs are essential for crafting well-rounded conceptions of both consent and self-worth, in addition to equipping young people with the understanding necessary to avoid the harms and stigma of STIs, STDs, and unwanted pregnancies. The puritanical standards of sex ed in America have resulted in readily apparent harm inflicted, particularly on communities of color. One study found that STI rates for Black people were at least four times higher than that of white people. Pinellas County presents a particularly pressing epidemic regarding HIV and AIDS with the rate being 7.8 times higher for Black residents than white. Further, the general county rates have decreased since 2011-13, but this disproportionate ratio has increased.

K-12 public schools have the opportunity to incorporate practical lesson planning revolving around food consumption. This is yet another area where schools are failing children in general, but paired with the lack of food security within minority communities this presents yet another for health equity. We will discuss the specific barriers to accessibility for food later on. This includes what they can do and how this will change things.  

Want to learn more about food insecurity and the food policy? Join our Food Politics team!

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There is much work to do when it comes to addressing education as a social determinant of health–specifically when we focus on the racial disparities created by the education system.

Like many communities across the country, St. Petersburg has a food problem. 

While many parts of town are literally teeming with grocery stores, St. Petersburg actually has 4 food deserts, defined by the USDA as “areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food”. [1]   According to the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas, which tracks food deserts across the country, food deserts are often characterized by low-income levels, greater distances to healthy, affordable food, and limited vehicle availability. [2]  For people living in food deserts, that can mean making some unusual choices, relying at times on food sold at convenience stores and gas stations. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there.  St. Petersburg also has a problem with food insecurity, another problem predating the Covid pandemic.  Food insecurity refers to families who “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members.” [3]  According to Feeding America, in 2018 (the last year for which data is available) 123, 860 people in Pinellas County were food insecure. [4]

The problem is that food insecurity is all too often met with junk calories.  Loading a community with processed calories from dollar stores and USDA food boxes only treats hunger. These junk calories are highly processed foods that can be warehoused for years but do not make a community healthier.  In fact, they create and exacerbate the chronic diseases of diabetes, cardiac disease and renal failure.  So while there may be some food, there isn’t a lot of nutrition, and that has big consequences for individual health and the health of the community.  

Nutrition insecurity is the real challenge we must face. The kinds of foods brought into a community matter greatly.  It is not just about filling the belly.  It’s about healthy food that meets nutritional needs, nourishes the body, and fosters well-being.  That means easy, affordable, convenient access to fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and whole grains that form the basis of a healthy diet. 

Recently, our City Council unanimously passed ordinance 448-H in its first reading which allows St. Petersburg residents to sell what they grow in their home gardens. This will not only will put more nutrition into our city but provide many new economic opportunities for families in financial trouble due to COVID-19. Additionally, the ordinance reduced permit fees for hosting sales, allowed garden-related structures to be built and allowed residents to sell their produce on vacant non-residential property. All great things for gardeners and eaters, alike.  While this importance legislation is an important step in improving access to local, healthy food, we know it will not solve our city’s nutrition insecurity problems.  There is more work to be done. 


There will be many opportunities to write to our policy makers, speak in public forums, provide education about the issue to organizations and assist in local efforts.  We hope that you will join us in this endeavor. 

  1. USDA, Economic Research Service, Economic Research Report Number 140, August 2012, Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts
  2. USDA, Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas
  3. USDA, Economic Research Service
  4. Feeding Tampa Bay

St. Petersburg summary: Over a three year period, 2015-17 data on violent crime reveals:

  • 55% of criminal homicides involved a firearm
  • 2% of sex offenses involved a firearm
  • 36% of robberies involved a firearm
  • 29% of aggravated assaults involved a firearm
  • ** 29% of all violent crimes involved a firearm

Pinellas County summary: Over a 22 year period, 1996-2017 data on violent crime reveals:

  • 55% of murders involved a firearm, a pattern that trended upward during the period
  • 12% of manslaughters involved a firearm; pattern trended downward during a period
  • 1% of forcible sex crimes involved a firearm
  • 32% of robberies involved a firearm
  • 16% of aggravated assaults involved a firearm; pattern trended upward during a period

St. Petersburg Data: 2015-17       

  2015 2016 2017 Annual totals/average % of category
Criminal homicide 17 28 24 69/23
Firearm involved 10 15 13 38/13 55%
Sex offenses 185 122 136 443/148
Firearm involved 3 1 4 8/2.7 2%
Robbery 573 556 499 1628/543
Firearm involved 182 212 195 589/196 36%
Aggravated assault 1126 1029 1187 3342/1114
Firearm involved 329 308 337 974/325 29%
Total violent crimes 1898 1727 1846 5471/1824
Firearm involved 524 535 549 1608/536 29%

Sources:

  1. FL Dept. of Law Enforcement, FL Uniform Crime Reports 2015-17, provided by St. Petersburg Police Department
  2. Centers for Disease Control data by county
    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/florida/florida.htm
  3. Centers for Disease Control, Firearm Mortality Data https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
  4. FL Dept. of Law Enforcement, Crime Data by Jurisdiction 1996-2017
    http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/Data-Statistics/UCR-Offense-Data.aspx
  5. FL Dept. of Law Enforcement Uniform Crime Statistics, Domestic Violence
    http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/Data-Statistics/UCR-Domestic-Violence

Facts You Should Know:

  • Nationwide, suicides account for over 60% of firearm-related deaths. 
  • Suicide is often an impulsive act and guns are a devastatingly effective means of ending one’s life.
  • Firearms are used in approximately half of all suicides. Between 2015-17 there were 591 suicides in Pinellas County with 52% involving the use of a firearm.  Between Jan 1 2013 and June 30 2018, there were 137 suicides involving a firearm in St. Petersburg.


SUICIDE DATA:
Suicides in Pinellas County
5 years between 2012-2016          982 suicide deaths, an average of 196/year
2014                                       195  (17.3 suicides per 100,000 population)
2015                                       199 (18 suicides per 100,000 population)
2016                                       214 (19.6 suicides per 100,000 population)
2017                                       178  (16.9 suicides per 100,000 population)
Summary:  Suicides trended upward in the county between 2012-2016 dropping significantly in 2017. 
Suicides in Florida
2014               3035  (13.8 suicides per 100,000 population)
2015               3152  (14.5 suicides per 100,000 population)
2016               3122  (14.1 suicides per 100,000 population)
2017               3187  (14.1 suicides per 100,000 population)
Summary:  The national age-adjusted suicide rate was 13.5 per 100,000 population
in 2016; in Florida it was 14 per 100,000; in Pinellas County it was 19.6 per 100,000. 
Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in Florida, placing Florida 21st in the nation.


FIREARM DEATH DATA:
Firearm Deaths in Florida
2014               2410
2015               2559
2016               2704
Summary:  The firearm death rate in Florida in 2016 was 12.6 per 100,000, higher than the nation’s 11.8 per 100,000 rate.


SUICIDE BY FIREARM DATA:
Suicides by Firearm in St. Petersburg
During the 5.5 years from Jan. 1, 2013 – June 30, 2018, there were 137 suicides by firearms.

Suicides by Firearm in Pinellas County
2015-17 total suicides (see annual data above)             591
2015-17 suicides by firearm                                               307  
Summary:  52% of suicides during this 3-year period involved a firearm; this
equates to 8.4 per 100,000 population.  (data from www.flhealthcharts.com
under profile of fatal injuries)

Suicides by Firearm in Florida (all data is per 100,000 population)
Year   Rate of firearm death     Rate of suicides              % of suicides using firearms
2012  8.01                                        15.52                                         51.61%
2013  8.0                                           14.95                                        53.51%
2014  7.73                                        15.26                                         50.66%
2015  8.05                                        15.83                                        50.85%
2016   8.1                                          14.1                                           57%
Summary:  53% of suicides during this 5-year period involved a firearm.

Sources:

  1. Centers for Disease Control “Fatal Injury Data”
    https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html
  2. Centers for Disease Control “Suicide Mortality by State”
    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/suicide-mortality/suicide.htm
  3. Centers for Disease Control searchable database for “underlying cause of death” https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/datarequest/D76;jsessionid=702709C6F4D24E3EBE05475813D1161A
  4. Florida Health Charts, Suicide Deaths, Pinellas County
    http://www.flhealthcharts.com/charts/DataViewer/DeathViewer/DeathViewer.aspx?indNumber=0116
  5. Florida Health Charts, Suicide Deaths Pinellas County / 3 yr rolling rates, age-adj.http://www.flhealthcharts.com/charts/DataViewer/DeathViewer/DeathViewer.aspx?indNumber=0116
  6. St. Petersburg Police Department data on suicides by firearms obtained August 2018
  7. Study by Governing magazine using data from the National Center for Health Statistics: 
    http://www.governing.com/gov-data/health/county-suicide-death-rates-map.html 

Directory of Elected Officials for St. Petersburg Area

President of the United States

U.S. Congress

  • United States Senate
  • United States House of Representatives 

State of Florida

  • Governor
  • State Senate
  • State House of Representatives

Pinellas County Commission

Pinellas County School Board

City of St Petersburg

  • Mayor
  • City Council

Other Municipalities  (South and Central Pinellas)