A “guidance” letter sent out this week by the Florida Department of State’s office regarding the use of mail drop boxes is creating come concerns, but local elections officials in the Tampa Bay area say it won’t affect their operations at all as the general election grows closer.

Floridians are voting by mail in their largest numbers ever, with more than 2.2 million mail ballots already cast in the 2020 election as of Friday afternoon.

With vote-by-mail increasing this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, many supervisors of elections in Florida are expanding their use of ballot drop boxes. Drop boxes have also become more popular as an alternative to the Postal Service, after the post office underwent changes this summer.

But the interpretation of mail drop box laws as expressed in the letter written by Brad McVay, general counsel for the Florida Department of State, could potentially limit their use in some counties.

Take the use of so-called “discretionary” drop boxes.

Those are separate from the drop boxes that SOEs have located at their official offices or early voting sites. In the letter, McVay writes those discretionary drop box sites “must be open for the same number of hours that your early voting sites remain open.”

In Pinellas County, Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus is providing 25 drop box locations to make it more convenient for voters to drop off their mail ballot this election cycle. Many of those are located at libraries or tax collector offices that close at 5 p.m.

Official early voting site hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“We believe that what we’re doing complies with Florida law, and from our perspective we’re not changing anything,” says Dustin Chase, a spokesperson for the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections. “There’s a difference between guidance from the Division of Elections and a directive from the Division of Election. This is guidance.”

That’s the sentiment expressed by Ronald Labasky, the Florida Supervisors of Elections legal counsel.

“This is a letter, not a formal advisory opinion,” Labasky wrote to the SOEs this week. “As the letter states, it’s the Department’s interpretation of the law. As such I think a Supervisor can take it as they choose to.” 

The letter also says vote-by-mail drop boxes need to be staffed at all times they’re in use by an employee of the supervisor’s office or a sworn law enforcement officer.

In Hillsborough County, there is a 24-hour drop off box at the Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center which has either a law enforcement officer or a staffer always on site, says Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.

Latimer, who is also serving this year as the president of the Florida Supervisors of Elections, wrote to Labasky on Thursday, informing him that the letter was causing some concern from counties that have 24-hour drop boxes (no other county in the Tampa Bay area offers a 24-hour drop box).

Latimer tells Spectrum Bay News 9 the letter is simply a “suggestion” and says nothing will change for Hillsborough voters casting their ballot by mail who want to drop it off at a drop box, which will expand to 26 locations beginning on Monday.

“Right now we are averaging over 3,000 ballots a day being dropped off at our four offices,” he says. “Those ballot boxes are staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by at least two people out there with them. Each ballot box has a lock on it. In addition, it’s got a seal number on it. All of this is recorded.”

The Joe Biden campaign blasted the idea that the Florida Department of State would be giving supervisors of elections new instructions with Election Day so close.

“Any and all efforts to make it more difficult for Floridians to vote should be called out for what they are: voter suppression,” said Jackie Lee, Florida State Director for the Biden campaign in a written statement. “Floridians are already voting; over two million have cast their ballots in this election and dropboxes across the state are already in use. Non-binding, last minute guidance from the state just causes confusion. Floridians should just keep doing what they are doing: voting, undistracted by these efforts. Our campaign will remain focused on ensuring that every single eligible Floridian is able to easily and conveniently cast their ballot.”