Florida law requires all voters to provide a current and valid photo and signature identification upon check-in prior to voting in person.

Accepted Forms of ID

• Florida driver license
• Florida ID card (issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles)
• U.S. passport
• Debit or credit card
• Military ID
• Student ID
• Retirement center ID
• Neighborhood association ID
• Public assistance ID
• Veteran health ID (issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Concealed weapon license (issued pursuant to F.S. 790.06)
• Employee ID card issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the federal government, the state, a county or a municipality.

If your photo ID does not contain your signature, an additional ID with your signature is required.

If you do not present acceptable ID, you will have the opportunity to vote a provisional ballot. If your signature on the provisional ballot certificate does not match your signature on file with the elections office, you will need to complete and return a provisional ballot cure affidavit (English/Español) to the elections office by 5 p.m. on the second day following the election. The canvassing board consisting of the supervisor of elections, county judge and county commissioner determines the legality of provisional ballots.

Upon arriving at your polling location, an election worker will ask you to have your photo and signature ID ready to present at check-in.

Present your ID and a poll worker will confirm your information and that you are in the correct polling location, ask you to sign the electronic poll book and issue you a ballot.

You will be directed to a voting booth to mark your ballot. Use the black pen provided in the booth to completely fill in the oval adjacent to your choice in each race or question on the ballot.

Review your selections for accuracy and then take your ballot to the tabulator and insert the ballot into the optical scan reader. Important: If you have any questions or make a mistake on your ballot, ask a poll worker for assistance. Once the ballot has been scanned, it cannot be retrieved.

The tabulator will record your votes and drop your ballot into the secure, locked ballot box. Learn more about the voting system used in Sarasota County.

Note: If you request a vote-by-mail ballot for an election but decide instead to vote in person, you may surrender your VBM ballot at your polling place. A poll worker will cancel the VBM ballot and issue you a regular ballot. On election day, vote-by-mail ballots may be returned to an elections office location by 7 p.m., but cannot be dropped off at a polling place to be counted.

Florida Statute 101.051 prohibits anyone from being in the voting booth with any voter except as provided by this section. A voter may request the assistance of two election officials or some other person of the voter's own choice, other than the voter's employer, an agent of the employer, or an officer or agent of his or her union.

If not previously requested, a voter needing assistance by reason of blindness, disability or inability to read or write must complete an affidavit at the polling location to secure assistance before entering the voting booth.