Ballots for Sarasota’s March 8 referendum hitting mailboxes today

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Mail-in ballots for the upcoming March 8 referendums in Sarasota County should be arriving in voters’ mailboxes in the next few days, the county has announced.

The county’s supervisor of elections, Ron Turner, says 115,000 requested mail-in ballots were being put in the mail Thursday.

All registered Sarasota County voters are eligible to vote. While no one will be elected on this ballot, important questions about school funding and county commission districts will appear.

The first question is whether to continue the one-mill tax for schools, beginning July 1 and ending June 2026. The funds will go to recruiting and retaining quality teachers, implementing and preserving educational programs, and providing textbooks, technology and other resources.

The second question will allow county commissioners to be elected countywide. Voters would be able to cast ballots for all commissioners, regardless of which district they live in.

Turner said the ballots will be in the mail to registered Sarasota County voters who have a vote-by-mail request on file with the elections office. He also noted that voters have until 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 to request a ballot be mailed to them for the coming election.

You can request a vote-by-mail ballot in one of the following ways:

Online at SarasotaVotes.gov/VotebyMail
In person at any of three elections offices in Sarasota, North Port or Venice
By phone to 941-861-8618

“Voted ballots may be returned by mail or in person to the supervisor of elections but must be received in the elections office no later than 7 p.m. on election night to be counted,” Turner said. “Voters who cast their ballots by mail must sign the certificate on the ballot return envelope and their signature should match the signature on file in the statewide voter registration database.”

A voter may update his or her signature any time by submitting a Florida Voter Registration Application to the elections office. However, a signature update for use in verifying a vote-by-mail ballot for a particular election must be received in the elections office before the voter’s ballot is received.

For more information, visit SarasotaVotes.gov or call 941.861.8618.