Supervisor of Elections advises voters of unofficial mailings

Press release from Alachua County Supervisor of Elections

Updated April 8 with information from the Center for Voter Information and the Voter Participation Center

Two Washington D.C.-based nonprofits, the Center for Voter Information and the Voter Participation Center, are sending potentially misleading mailings to Alachua County voters and other residents.

The two groups, which routinely send similar mailings across Florida, announced they will collectively send more than 30,000 pieces of mail this month in Alachua County.

Intended for residents who are not registered to vote, the groups’ mailings have previously confused voters, with notices sent based on incorrect or out-of-date information.

Neither the Center for Voter Information nor the Voter Participation Center is affiliated with the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections. The Alachua County Supervisor of Elections does not provide the address information used to conduct the mailing.

Page Gardner, founder and board chair of the Voter Participation Center, sent us the following statement: “Based on our years of experience, we know that many Americans do not have reliable Internet service or just don’t feel comfortable using the web for something as important as voting. That’s where our mail program will fill a void — in sending official state voter registration forms and vote-by-mail literature directly to people of color, young people, single mothers and many others who often are left behind in state-run voter drives.”

In response, TJ Pyche, from the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections office, said that the mailings often go to voters who are already registered or deceased, and the office gets a lot of calls from people who are confused or upset by the mailings.

Contact information and links to unsubscribe from the Center for Voter Information and the Voter Participation Center are below:

Center for Voter Information

info@centerforvoterinformation.org

Unsubscribe: https://www.centerforvoterinformation.org/unsubscribe/

Voter Participation Center

202-659-9570 info@voterparticipation.org

Unsubscribe: https://www.voterparticipation.org/got-mail/

The Alachua County Supervisor of Elections is the official source for information related to voter registration and elections in Alachua County.

Voters are encouraged to make sure their voter records are updated. This can be done at https://www.votealachua.com/My-Registration-Status or by calling 352-374-5252.

Though the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office remains closed to the public, there are numerous ways for prospective voters to register to vote:

• Online: Florida residents can register to vote online. The online voter registration portal — found at RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov — is a safe and secure option for voter registration.
• By mail: Forms are available online at VoteAlachua.com.
• In-person: Florida Voter Registration Applications can be downloaded online and turned in to the secure, white afterhours dropbox outside the Supervisor of Elections Office in Gainesville on North Main Street. The dropbox is monitored 24/7 and is checked regularly.

Voters who need to update their signatures need to fill out new voter registration applications.