By St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes

St. Johns County residents may be noticing an influx of information regarding upcoming elections in Jacksonville, which are taking place on March 21 and May 16. It’s important to note that these elections are exclusive to Duval County registered voters and St. Johns County does not have any upcoming elections in 2023.

To kick off 2023, we began the exciting, much anticipated return of our Voter Education Program to St. Johns County high schools in January. To date, we have visited four high schools, and have had a wonderful experience. We plan on visiting every high school by the end of this school year. In addition, voter outreach continues to be an important part of the mission of the Supervisor of Elections, so plan to see our team out in the community this year, and please say hello when you do.

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The 2023 Florida Supervisor of Elections Scholarship is being offered to eligible college students through March 10. The $1,200 scholarship will be awarded to four eligible full-time students enrolled in a senior college or university in Florida, and who are majoring in Political Science, Public Administration, Business Administration, or Journalism/Mass Communication. For more information on eligibility requirements and how to apply, visit www.votesjc.gov.

Has your signature changed? At the Supervisor of Elections Office, voter signatures are very important verification tools we use to check vote-by-mail ballots, petitions, and other election-relation documents. We know it’s common for personal signatures to change over the years and we recommend that voters update the signature on file with our office frequently. To update your signature, visit our office at 4455 Avenue A, #101, St. Augustine, or visit our website at www.votesjc.gov to print a Florida Voter Registration Application, fill it out, and mail it in.

The legislative session in Tallahassee begins March 7 and will end on May 5. We anticipate changes in our current election law and will monitor the session closely to see what is accomplished. We can expect some changes stemming from 2022’s Senate Bill 524, which discussed the creation of the Office of Election Crimes and Security, increased penalties for election law violations, revised the procedures for list maintenance, and changed the name of the “drop box” to “Secure Ballot Intake Station.”

We anticipate changes in the areas of vote-by-mail and our election auditing procedures. We will be watching and working with our state legislators regarding any approved election bills. We hope they will look to us for guidance as elections administrators are the experts. Elections are partisan; however, Election Administration is not.

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