Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the upcoming election.
Florida’s Aug. 18 primary election will decide numerous local races, making it one of the most important elections of the year for residents across the Florida Keys.
“There’s a lot of county races that are going to be decided as well,” Hodies said. “Ultimately, everything on our ballot in the primary will be decided from county down. Now, when you look at state and federal, of course, whoever wins those primary positions will go on to November.”
Hodies explained that Key West city races are nonpartisan, meaning party affiliation does not determine who can vote.
“Key West has single-member districts, and so you would have to live in that district to be able to vote for those commissioners,” she said. “You have District Two, District Four, District Five, and then everyone in the City of Key West will be able to vote for the mayor race. The city races are all nonpartisan, so it doesn’t matter what party affiliation that you are.”
Two county races, however, have become universal primaries because only Republican candidates qualified.
“Those two races are now called universal primaries, which means everybody in the county can vote in this primary for those two races,” Hodies said. “Normally that doesn’t happen. We are a closed primary state in the state of Florida… but not this year.”
The universal primary races include the Monroe County Commission District 2 seat and Mosquito Control District 2.
School Board Districts 1 and 5, county judge and utility board races are also nonpartisan and will be decided during the primary election.
One of the most immediate deadlines is voter registration.
“One of our big dates is July 20. Our books close, and what that means is our registration closes down,” Hodies said. “At that point, all the candidates will know this is who is able to vote in the primary for 2026.”
She encouraged anyone who has not yet registered to act quickly.
“I think it’s getting out there that Monday is the last day to register to vote for this primary,” she said.
Hodies also praised community members helping encourage new voters.
“I want to give a big shout out to Allie Ferguson,” she said. “She’s got several 18- to 20-year-olds that want to register to vote… and we’re going to get more people registered to vote.”
Vote-by-mail ballots are already arriving at voters’ homes, and Hodies said her office has begun receiving completed ballots back.
“Two hundred twelve overseas and military ballots went out July 2. Ten thousand four hundred ninety-two ballots went out July 9, and every single day we are getting requests for vote-by-mail ballots,” she said.
In addition, 458 completed ballots had already been returned.
Hodies even used her own ballot to illustrate the office’s signature verification procedures.
“I was the 458th person,” she said. “These people that work in this office, they really looked at my signature. They had to look at two or three of my other signatures… They don’t care who you are.”
Hodies said the story demonstrates the office’s commitment to treating every ballot equally.
She also encouraged voters who request a vote-by-mail ballot to actually return it.
“In 2022, we had over 12,000 people request vote-by-mail ballots. Only a little over 7,000 actually turned in their ballot,” Hodies said. “That’s only 57.9% from who requested to who actually cast a vote-by-mail ballot.”
She noted that voters who simply want to review candidates before voting do not need to request a vote-by-mail ballot.
“If you have a vote-by-mail ballot, please cast your vote-by-mail ballot,” Hodies said. “You’re going to get a sample ballot. I’m sending those out July 23… I’m just trying to save taxpayer money on that.”
The final day to request that a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed is Aug. 6 at 5 p.m.
Hodies also invited residents to observe the public testing of Monroe County’s voting equipment before ballots are counted.
“We have public testing of our tabulation equipment. It’s called Logic and Accuracy,” she said. “That is July 28 at 10 a.m. in the Key West office.”
The process allows the canvassing board and election workers to verify that voting machines accurately tabulate ballots before early voting begins.
“It’s just a really neat process to watch, and we hardly have anybody that ever shows up,” Hodies said. “I’m just inviting all the public, the candidates, anybody to come.”
Early voting runs Aug. 3 through Aug. 15, while canvassing of vote-by-mail ballots begins Aug. 10.
For complete election information, voter registration, sample ballots and election deadlines, residents can visit the Monroe County Supervisor of Elections website at https://www.votemonroeflkeys.gov/ or contact any of the office’s three locations throughout the Keys.