Floridians, are you ready to vote this year? You sure?

The conversations are straightforward enough when they start out: “Hey, are you registered to vote?” “Absolutely!” “Great! Do you happen to vote by mail, and if so, have you re-requested your ballot for the 2024 election year?”

Even if the person being engaged is on the move as we have this exchange, the last part of our question often gets their attention and slows them to a stop. “Yes, and nooooo. ... I didn’t know I had to do that. Why?”

The League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg Area’s trained and certified nonpartisan voter registration volunteers have had this conversation on repeat thousands of times since January 2023, when a new statewide voting law took effect that wiped the vote-by-mail rolls clean. We’re concerned about the fact that now, one-and-a-half years later, we continue to have the same conversation with so many voters who are still unaware of the changes that require them to re-submit their ballot request and to now do so after every federal election cycle (every two years rather than four years).

In 2023, League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg Area’s Voter Services Committee decided to conduct a full-blown educational effort to make sure folks knew about the vote-by-mail changes. With some 333,000 voters having asked for vote-by-mail ballots in 2022, we knew that even with the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections office doing its own informational campaign about the new law, there was still plenty of work to do to get the word out about re-upping vote-by-mail ballot requests.

So we shared accurate info on our social media channels, made presentations on the new requirements, and most important, had our voter registration volunteers hit the ground running in the community. We were at 61 events during the year (more than one a week), including visiting the St. Petersburg’s recreation, community and senior centers; spreading the word at festivals, markets and job fairs hosted by partner organizations; and engaged at colleges and high schools.

We found time and time again that a majority of people did not know they had to re-request their ballots. So we provided info via a scannable QR code sticker that enabled voters to complete their voting-related tasks online, including how to check their registration status, which can be done easily at votepinellas.org, or urged them to call the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections (727-464-8683) for help. We handed out more than 1,000 of those stickers in 2023. We also provided paper request forms (with stamped envelopes addressed to the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections) for those who weren’t comfortable or not able to go online and dropped off some 3,000 info flyers with local nursing homes, churches, neighborhood associations and Meals on Wheels organizers.

It’s now 18 months later. We’ve been at 43 events so far this year. We’ve found that while the numbers of those completely unaware of the changes has declined from the majority we encountered last year, a sizable swath of voters are still in the dark. What we’re encountering is reflected in the fact that, according to the Tampa Bay Times, only about 233,000 vote-by-mail requests have been received by the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections office since the change in law, down some 100,000 from 2022. It’s also reflected in the fact that more than 800 voters have asked for our QR stickers so they can check their status and request vote-by-mail forms online. We’ve also handed out dozens of paper voter registration and vote-by-mail request forms.

Why the big concern about making sure people have the option to vote by mail? Because voting by mail has proven to be a foolproof and safe way to vote, as well as the perfect back-up plan — protection from the litany of unforeseen “what if” scenarios that may prevent someone from casting their vote in-person.

What if you and/or family members are too sick to leave the house? What if you unexpectedly have to work? What if your car breaks down? What if you realize it’s election day and you haven’t had the chance to research any of the candidates? What if there’s a hurricane? Or a heatwave and lines at your precinct are too long to navigate?

Having a mail-in ballot in-hand weeks before the election gives you have time to research candidates, drop off your ballot in advance of election day and start tracking it once you’ve done that. And, we let people know, if you change your mind and want to vote in person, no problem. Just take the mail-in ballot to your polling place, turn it into the poll workers (who will properly dispose of it) and you’ll be given a fresh ballot to fill out there.

So please, exercise your right to vote this election year by checking your status and making sure you have a back-up plan in place by requesting a mail-in ballot by Aug. 8. Find other key election-related dates and deadlines at lwvspa.org, and research your candidates and learn about amendments on our nonpartisan pinellas.voterguide.org.

Maryellen Gordon is a co-chair of League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg Area’s Voter Services committee, serving as the voter registration team lead and community partners liaison.