How to Vote in the US Midterms From Jacksonville: The Last Day to Vote Is Tuesday, and Monday Is Not a Voting Day
Two of America's top Google searches on Monday morning are 'last day to vote' and 'how to vote in the us midterms.' For Duval County voters the answers are specific: early voting ended Sunday, no polls are open Monday, and Election Day voting runs Tuesday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your assigned precinct only.
The country is asking its search engine how this works, one day out. The Google Trends US snapshot read by the desk this run (updated Monday 06:22 UTC) ranks 'last day to vote' second and 'how to vote in the us midterms' third among trending searches, and a second trends tracker read this run puts 'how to vote in the us midterms' at the very top. Jacksonville voters should know the first answer plainly: the last day to vote is Tuesday, Nov. 3 - and Monday is not a voting day in Duval County at all.
Early voting is over. Duval's 24 early voting sites closed Sunday, Nov. 1, with more than 230,000 ballots already cast (the desk's SQ-20261101-080). On Election Day the rules tighten: polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, and unlike early voting, you must vote at your assigned precinct - any other polling place cannot take your regular ballot. A picture and signature ID is required, per the Duval County Supervisor of Elections' official dates page. Any voter standing in line at 7 p.m. is eligible to cast a vote.
Mail ballots have a hard deadline of their own: a completed vote-by-mail ballot must be RECEIVED by the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted - a postmark does not save it, the elections office's official deadlines page states. The Duval office is at 105 E. Monroe St., and the elections office phone is 904-255-VOTE (904-255-8683). Voters who still hold a mail ballot can also surrender it at their precinct and vote in person instead.
One more thing voters will see Tuesday: monitors. The Justice Department is sending about 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states, a substantial increase from about 60 monitors in 24 states in 2022, Action News Jax reported in a file opened and read directly by the desk this run; the full list of monitor locations will not be public until Election Day, and state observers are scheduled to visit Jacksonville polling locations and watch the count. Duval Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said federal officials had not reached out to arrange local visits, in the station's account.
