PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — When early voting begins in Pinellas County on October 19, registered voters will be able to cast their ballots at five early voting sites spread out throughout the county.

But some voting rights advocates and health care professionals say that’s not nearly enough in a county of 700,000 registered voters and a pandemic which is still very much ongoing.

What You Need To Know

Going back more than a decade, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections office has prioritized voting-by-mail, while placing less emphasis on early voting sites. And with what is expected to be a record number of people voting by mail this election cycle due to concerns about contracting the coronavirus, Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Julie Marcus says their system has proven to be the way to go.

“Mail ballots have increased voter turn-out,” Marcus told Spectrum Bay News 9 earlier this year. “Every jurisdiction is different. They have different considerations, but for Pinellas County, it’s worked. It’s not a theory…our voters embrace this.”

Marcus says that more 370,000 registered voters have requested a vote-by-mail ballot this year, more than half of all registered voters in Pinellas.

But critics have noted for years that Pinellas utilizes far fewer early voting sites than its neighbors. Hillsborough County will have 25 early voting sites open later this month; Pasco County will have 14 sites and Polk will have nine sites.

And earlier this week, two St. Petersburg-based physicians with expertise in infectious diseases and immunology called on Marcus to open up more early voting sites, writing that, “spacing more voters across more locations can lead to fewer crowds and shorter lines.”

“The county’s busiest early-voting site in 2016 was the Election Service Center in Largo, which averaged about 1,500 people each day. With early voting sites open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., about 125 people voted per hour at that center.

"That’s a lot of people in one space and may not suffice for safe social distancing,” wrote doctors Mona Mangat and David Berman in an op-ed published in the Tampa Bay Times.

Voting rights advocates say they’d prefer Pinellas expand their early voting locations.

“With likely record-breaking voter turnout expected this election cycle, it is concerning that the supervisor is not providing voters with more options for early voting sites,” said Patricia Brigham, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

Marcus says that her office took a “layered approach” in handling both the March presidential primary election and the August general primary — without any noticeable issues.

“The plan included mail ballots, election day polling places, early voting, and necessary PPE for both our voters and election workers,” she told Bay News 9 in a written statement. 

When told that there will not be any additional early voting sites, Dr. Mangat said that was “disappointing,” but added that she was “very pleased that the SOE has been working to try and ensure voting is safe during COVID.”

Criticism that Pinellas doesn’t provide enough early voting sites goes back several years, and it has been delivered from both sides of the aisle. In 2014, former Clearwater-based GOP state Senator Jack Latvala said that the office (then led by now retired SOE Deborah Clark) emphasized vote-by-mail efforts to the exclusion of adding early voting sites.

And in 2016, then-Pinellas Republican Congressman David Jolly joined his Democratic opponent Charlie Crist in calling for Clark to open up an additional early voting site in South St. Petersburg. She declined to do so.

Vote-by-mail ballots were sent out earlier this week to all voters in Pinellas County who requested them. Voters have until Oct. 24 to request a vote-by-mail ballot ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

There are 25 drop-boxes scattered throughout the county to deliver your vote-by-mail ballot. Five of them are drive-through locations. 

These are the five early voting site locations that will be open up for voters beginning on Monday, Oct. 19:

  • The Supervisor of Elections Office at the Pinellas County Courthouse – 315 Court St., Room 117 in Clearwater, 33756
  • The Supervisor of Elections Office at the Election Service Center – 13001 Starkey Rd., Starkey Lakes Corporate Center, Largo, 33773
  • The Supervisor of Elections Office – County Building – 501 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg, 33701
  • The Centre of Palm Harbor -1500 16th St., Palm Harbor 34683
  • SPC Allstate Center – 3200 34th St., S, St. Petersburg, 33733