Vote-By-Mail Ballots To Be Mailed To Pinellas County Voters Thursday

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office will send out vote-by-mail ballots to Pinellas County voters requesting one starting Thursday.

All vote-by-mail requests made before Jan. 1 expired in December, in accordance with the new election law passed by the Legislature last year.

Therefore, all those wishing to vote by mail must request a ballot from the supervisor of elections office by March 4 to receive a ballot for the March 14 elections.

Voters may request a vote-by-mail ballot at MailBallot@VotePinellas.gov or by calling 464-VOTE (8683).

Voters living in the municipalities of St. Pete Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth City, Madeira Beach, Redington Shores, South Pasadena and Treasure Island will choose new council members and commissioners during citywide elections on March 14.

• Vying for two commission seats in Belleair Bluffs are Adele Hoffman, Karen Rafferty and Suzy Sofer.
• Running for Ward 2 council members in Gulfport are Christine Anne Brown, Christopher Butler-Jones and Greg Simek.
• On the ballot for the Gulfport Ward 4 seat are Michael Fridovich and Ian O'Hara.
• Running for two commission seats in Indian Rocks Beach are Don House, Denise Houseberg, Preston Smith and Lan Vaughan.
• Four contenders are running for two council seats in Kenneth City: Tony P. Chan, Kyle Cummings, Jeffrey L. Pfannes and Barbara Roberts.
• Madeira Beach will choose a new mayor between Doug Andrews and Jim Rostek.
• Redington Shores will choose a District 3 commissioner for a partial term. Running are Lisa Hendrickson and Kenny Later.
• South Pasadena has a full slate of candidates running for two commission seats: Michael James Burgmaier, Marj Lorand, Gail M. Neidinger, Felix Day Pretsch, Bonnie L. Quick and Tom Reid.
• St. Pete Beach will choose a new mayor-commissioner. In the race are Alan P. Johnson and Adrian Petrila.
• And Treasurer Island has two contenders for the District 1 commission seat: Deborah Lynn Toth and Ashley Wagner.

Additionally, residents of some Pinellas cities will be asked to vote on charter amendments and referendums.

• Charter amendment 1 for Madeira Beach would establish residence requirements of at least one year to run for office.
• Charter amendment 2 will permit commissioners to delegate a contractor to perform the duties of the director of finance and city treasurer.
• Tarpon Springs is asking voters to authorize the purchase of the 3.49-acre Henry Ross property near South Florida Avenue for $728,000 for stormwater management and preservation.
• A second referendum in Tarpon Springs would require the city to hold a budget hearing no later than June 30.
• A third Tarpon Springs referendum would require the city to implement a strategic plan and update every three years.
• Treasure Island is asking voters to approve a charter amendment allowing the city to borrow money through a resolution instead of an ordinance.
• Treasure Island also wants to revise outdated budget language and revise borrowing restrictions.

North Redington Beach, Redington Beach, Belleair Shore and Safety Harbor have canceled their elections because there was only one contender for offices up for election.

The cities of Belleair, Belleair Beach, Clearwater, Dunedin, Largo, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg have no city elections this year.

Only registered voters who live in the city are eligible to vote in the upcoming municipal election.

Polls will be open on election day, March 14, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To obtain a sample ballot or find your precinct, click here.

Any candidate who wishes to introduce themselves to voters and discuss their reasons for running for office may submit candidate profiles to dann.white@patch.com. Please include a photo and verification that you own the copyright to the photo.