‘Stroll To The Polls’: St. Pete Event Highlights Voting By Mail In FL

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Voters will “Stroll to the Polls” Sunday at noon from Allendale United Methodist Church to the Euclid-St. Paul neighborhood U.S. post office to drop off their vote-by-mail ballots in the Aug. 20 primary elections.

The walk is being organized to raise awareness of a 2022 Florida law that requires voters to request a new vote-by-mail ballot after every election cycle.

“State legislature passed a law that you need to re-request a vote-by-mail ballot, which many people might not know,” Cynthia Lippert, a volunteer district organizer for Indivisible Florida 13, one of the organizations behind the walk, told Patch. “Here we sit … days from a primary election, which is very important, because you’re voting on senators, school board members, city council members, and people are sitting and expecting a ballot, and it might be too late.”

About 100,000 fewer vote-by-mail ballots have been requested in Florida this year than in 2022, she added.

Other organizations and groups involved in the walk include Allendale UMC and other congregations, Fired Up Pinellas, Black Lives Matter, and Florida for All.

After a rally at Allendale UMC, 3803 Haines road N., voters will march to the post office to drop off their ballots.

“Our hope is that by calling attention to this in every possible way, we’ll have more people aware of this primary and they’ll actually turn out to vote,” Lippert said.