A state representative in Pasco County has resigned from his post after he voted in another county, and the Florida Division of Elections has early voting numbers.
State representative resigns after admitting he voted in another county
A state representative in Pasco County has resigned from his seat after it was revealed he just voted in Hillsborough County.
Kevin Steele was the state representative in House District 55.
By rule, you have to live in the district you represent in the state House.
But Steele is also running for Congress in a district centered in Hillsborough County.
In Congress, under federal law, you don’t have to live in the district you represent.
The Florida Phoenix asked Steele if he would move to Hillsborough County for that race.
And the outlet said he told them, “I already did, and I even voted there.”
But that called into question whether he was violating state law by not living in Pasco County anymore.
So Steele decided to resign the state House seat.
He is still running as a Republican for Congress, trying to oust Democrat Kathy Castor in District 14.
That district got redrawn, and the GOP is targeting that district as a flip.
Early voting numbers released by Florida Division of Elections
Nearly 634,000 people have mailed in primary election ballots, while nearly 30,000 voted in the counties that started early voting, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Early voting for the primary is mandated by law to begin by Saturday, Aug. 8, 10 days before the election, but counties may choose to expand that.
In 10 counties in Florida, early voting began on Aug. 3.
In Orange County, 98,153 mail-in ballots have been sent out.
In Brevard, 64,483 were mailed, while in Volusia County, about 65,500 were sent out to voters.
In Pinellas County, the figure is 56,253. And in Pasco County, it’s 16,797.
The deadline to request a ballot by mail has passed.
For perspective, Florida holds primary elections every even-numbered year, but the specific types of ballots change.
In Orange County in 2022, considered a midterm cycle year, 76,954 voted by mail.
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections said don’t worry if you missed the primary deadline — you could still vote by mail in the general election.
“And that deadline ended (Thursday) for the primary. But if people want to vote by mail in the general election, they can still make that request and that will come to them,” Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel said.
According to state election officials, 1,243,242 vote-by-mail ballots have been sent out across the state of Florida.
If you requested a vote-by-mail ballot but never sent it back, you can still vote in the primary. Just take your mail ballot, along with its return envelope, to your early voting site or assigned Election Day polling place.
Poll workers can void and cancel your mail ballot, and you will then be issued a standard in-person ballot.