Political campaigns

Vote-by-mail data in Florida: what candidates get, and how to stop mailing people who already voted

Florida keeps one voter file away from the public: who asked for a mail ballot, when it went out and when it came back. Opposed candidates can get it. Here is who qualifies, what each county charges, and how to use it so your next mailer only goes to people who haven't voted.

Published Sat, Oct 17, 2026 · Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026

• Vote by mail
• Voter lists
• Florida
• Broward County
• Palm Beach County
• Miami-Dade County
• Data sources
• Costs

Most of Florida's voter file is public: anyone can ask for it. One part is held back. The record of who asked for a mail ballot, when it was sent and when it came back goes only to a short list of people, and opposed candidates are on that list. For a campaign that mails, it is the file that tells you who has already voted. If you are new to campaign mail, start with Direct Mail 101, then come back here.

The one gated file

Florida law requires each county Supervisor of Elections to keep a record of every vote-by-mail request. The record holds the date of the request, the date the ballot was mailed or delivered, the mailing address, and "the date the ballot was received by the supervisor", along with flags for a missing or mismatched signature (s. 101.62(2), Fla. Stat.).

The same section makes that data "confidential and exempt", which is why it isn't in the public voter file. Some county pages still cite the old number, 101.62(3). The current statute puts the rule in subsection (2).

Who may have it

The statute lists who may receive the data: the voter who requested the ballot, a canvassing board, an election official, a political party or its officials, "a candidate who has filed qualification papers and is opposed in an upcoming election", and registered political committees. All of them get it "for political purposes only" (s. 101.62(2)).

So a candidate who has qualified and has an opponent can ask. A candidate running unopposed, a consultant acting alone, or a business can't. If you are working for a campaign, the request goes in the candidate's or committee's name.

How fresh it is

The supervisor must update the file and make it available "no later than 8 a.m. of each day, including weekends, beginning 60 days before the primary until 15 days after the general election" (same statute). So in the weeks that matter there is a fresh file every morning. How each county delivers it to you varies, so ask when you sign up.

What it costs in South Florida

Each county sets its own fee and its own paperwork.

• Broward: the file needs a submitted Authorization Form, and costs "a $20.00 processing fee plus a subscription fee of $30.00" per election (Broward SOE price list). The data sits behind a candidate login. The public can see only counts, on the county's vote-by-mail statistics dashboard.
• Palm Beach: "Daily Vote-by-Mail Requests" are charged "a $20.00 processing fee per election, plus a monthly subscription fee of $30.00" (Palm Beach SOE public records).
• Miami-Dade: "Vote-By-Mail Ballot Requests" are one of the data products sold "for a flat fee of $20", processed in 3 to 5 business days and prepaid (Miami-Dade data requests). The candidate or committee chair must personally sign the county's application and affirm the data will be used "for political purposes only" (application form).

None of the three pages says what file format you receive, so ask when you order.

When ballots go out

Florida mails ballots to domestic voters who asked for one between the 40th and the 33rd day before the election (s. 101.62(3)(b)). For the November 3, 2026 general election that window ran from September 24, 2026 to October 1, 2026 (Florida Division of Elections). The last day to request one is 5 p.m. on October 22, 2026, the 12th day before (s. 101.62(3)(c)).

From the day ballots land, some of your voters are filling them in. The Florida campaign mail calendar lays out every date that drives a mail plan.

The suppression workflow

This is how we suggest a campaign uses the file. It is our method, built on what the file holds and how often it changes. The state sets no workflow of its own.

1. Re-pull before every drop. Ask for a fresh copy the day you finalize each mailing list. A file from last week misses everyone who voted since.
2. Match on Voter ID. Every voter in Florida's voter file has one (file layout). Matching on it avoids the mistakes that come from matching on names and addresses.
3. Drop the returned ballots. Anyone with a "received" date has already voted. Another mailer can't change that vote.
4. Mail "requested, not returned" first. These voters asked for a ballot and still have it. They are the people most worth a reminder.
5. Repeat for the next piece. The returned pile grows every day, so each drop gets smaller and better aimed.

A worked example with our prices

Say your list for the final mailer is 10,000 voters who requested a mail ballot. You re-pull the file the morning you send us the list, and it shows 5,000 of them have already returned their ballots.

• Mail everyone: $2,800 to print, clean, address and presort 10,000 of our 6" × 9" list postcards, plus about $2,900 to $4,000 in postage at 29¢ to 40¢ a piece.
• Mail only the 5,000 who haven't voted: $1,650 for print and prep, plus about $1,450 to $2,000 in postage.

The difference is $2,600 to $3,150, for a mailer that reaches the same people who could still be persuaded. Postage is billed at the actual USPS rate after presort, and only on the pieces that mail (our list-mail pricing). The 5,000 returned ballots in this example are made up for the arithmetic. Your own count comes from your county's file.

Or let us do it

Get the file from your Supervisor of Elections, send it to us with your voter list, and we'll match on Voter ID, take out the returned ballots, and print and mail the rest. If you don't have a list yet, we can request the official voter list from your county for you. See voter-list mail, or contact us with your race and your drop dates.

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