Vote by mail — Indian River County, Florida

Any registered voter in Indian River County can ask the Supervisor of Elections for a mail ballot online, in writing, by phone at (772) 226-4700 or in person at 4375 43rd Avenue, Vero Beach.

No reason is needed. The Supervisor of Elections FAQ states that any registered voter may request a vote-by-mail ballot, a change from the old absentee label the office says the program once carried (Vote-By-Mail FAQs). The same office serves a voter in a Fellsmere grove house, an Indian River Shores condominium or a Sebastian Highlands home, and the FAQ states that a voter must have an active request on file with the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections to receive a vote-by-mail ballot.

Phone and in-person requests need identifying details. According to the FAQ, the request must give the voter's name, address and date of birth plus a Florida driver license number, a Florida ID number or the last four digits of the Social Security number. A family member may ask on a voter's behalf if directly instructed: the list runs from spouse, parent and child to grandparents, siblings and the in-law equivalents, and the requester must add his or her own name, address and relationship (Supervisor of Elections FAQ).

A different mailing address raises the bar. When a ballot is to go to an address not on file with the Florida Voter Registration System, the Supervisor of Elections requires the request in writing and signed by the voter, and its online service prompts the voter to print, sign and submit the form (Vote-By-Mail Ballot). Voters who need an ADA accessible ballot call the Elections Office at 772-226-4702 or 772-226-4718.

For the November 3, 2026 General Election, the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections began mailing ballots on September 24 and must receive mailing requests by 5:00 p.m. on October 22, 2026.

Each date traces to state law. Section 101.62 tells supervisors to mail ballots to domestic voters with a request on file between the 40th and 33rd days before a general election, and September 24 is the 40th day before November 3 (6 days left in September plus 31 in October plus 3 in November). Requests that arrive later are mailed within 2 business days after receipt, but no later than the 10th day before election day, and the deadline to submit a request for a ballot to be mailed is 5 p.m. local time on the 12th day before (s. 101.62, Florida Statutes). The Supervisor of Elections lists October 22, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. as that deadline (Vote-By-Mail Ballot).

The hook for 2026 is expiry. The Supervisor of Elections warns that a mail ballot request will expire after the 2026 General Election cycle and must be renewed to keep voting by mail (Supervisor of Elections). The rule follows section 101.62, under which one request is deemed sufficient for all elections through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election (s. 101.62). Every standing request in Indian River County, from Wabasso to the Vero Lake Estates area, lapses at the end of 2026, so a voter who wants ballots for elections in 2027 or 2028 files a new request.

Indian River County mail ballots are sent by nonforwardable mail, so a ballot sent to an address where mail is held or forwarded returns to the Supervisor of Elections and cancels every future request.

The Supervisor of Elections states plainly that a vote-by-mail ballot is not forwardable by the U.S. Postal Service, and that a ballot returned as undeliverable cancels all future requests until renewed (Vote-By-Mail Ballot). Section 101.62 sets the same rule: envelopes must be prominently marked Do Not Forward, and the supervisor must cancel a request whenever first-class or nonforwardable mail to the voter comes back undeliverable (s. 101.62). A seasonal resident of Vero Beach or the barrier island whose mail is forwarded north for the summer is covered by this rule.

A ballot can also be collected at the counter. The Supervisor of Elections office on 43rd Avenue hands out mail ballots, which are generally available six weeks before an election, and a voter who cannot travel may name a designee in writing (Supervisor of Elections). The designee shows photo ID, files form DS-DE 162 and may pick up ballots for no more than two other voters per election, apart from immediate family. Inside 10 days of Election Day, the voter must also sign the emergency section of that form stating why an early voting site or the assigned polling place cannot be used.

Status checks run through the Supervisor of Elections lookup, which shows a voter's polling place, sample ballot and mail ballot status and lists voting activity for the past 12 months (ballot tracking page). The Division of Elections adds that the free USPS Informed Delivery service can alert a voter when a requested mail ballot is due in the mailbox (Florida Division of Elections), which works for addresses in Orchid and Fellsmere as anywhere else in the county.

A voted Indian River County mail ballot must reach the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Election Day, by mail, at the intake station on 43rd Avenue, or at an early voting site in Sebastian or Vero Beach.

The Supervisor of Elections lists three return routes: the Secure Ballot Intake Station inside the Elections Office during business hours and from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, mail through USPS, FedEx, UPS or another carrier, and an intake station at every county early voting location during the early voting period (Return My Vote-By-Mail Ballot). For 2026 the early voting sites are the Council Chambers at Sebastian City Hall, the Main Library on 21st Street, the Elections Office itself and Room 112 of the Intergenerational Recreation Center, open 8:00 am to 4:00 pm with Thursday hours to 6:00 pm (Early Voting Information).

Postmarks do not rescue a late envelope. The Division of Elections states that a returned voted ballot must be received, regardless of postmark, by the Supervisor of Elections office no later than 7:00 pm local time on Election Day, with a 10 day extension only for overseas voters in presidential preference primary and general elections (Division of Elections). The Postal Service recommends that domestic nonmilitary voters mail back ballots at least one week before that deadline, and the Indian River County return page repeats the advice. For Election Day itself, November 3, 2026, the county return page lists only the intake station inside the office on 43rd Avenue, and the Supervisor of Elections FAQ states that voted mail ballots will not be accepted at Election Day polling places (Vote-By-Mail FAQs).

An Indian River County voter whose mail ballot envelope is unsigned or carries a signature that does not match the record files form DS-DE 139 and an ID copy with the Supervisor of Elections by 5 p.m. on the second day after the election.

The Supervisor of Elections signature correction page states that the signature on the return envelope must match the signature on file, that voters will be notified of a mismatch, and that the ballot will not count unless the voter completes and returns the signature affidavit on Form DS-DE 139 and provides a copy of identification no later than 5 p.m. the 2nd day after the election (signature mismatch page). The same two steps apply to a voter who returned the ballot but forgot to sign. Acceptable identification is listed on the affidavit, which the county posts in English and Spanish.

The Division of Elections allows the form and ID to be returned by mail, email, fax or in person (Division of Elections). For the November 3, 2026 election, the second day after the election is Thursday, November 5, so the affidavit and ID have to reach 4375 43rd Avenue by 5 p.m. that day. Prevention is cheaper: the Supervisor of Elections return page notes that a voter can update a signature by filing a Florida Voter Registration Application before the voted ballot is received (Return My Vote-By-Mail Ballot).

Yes, a voter who requested a mail ballot from the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections can still vote in person by bringing that ballot, marked or not, to an early voting site or the assigned polling place to have it cancelled.

The Supervisor of Elections explains the rule. A voter who arrives without the mail ballot can vote a regular ballot only after the office confirms it has not already received that ballot; if it has, the voter cannot vote again, and a voter who disputes that record is offered a provisional ballot decided by the canvassing board (Vote-By-Mail Ballot). Once the Elections Office has received a voted mail ballot, the ballot is cast and cannot be changed.

Spoiled ballots have a fix too. The office will send a replacement if a ballot is lost or marked in error, and a voter can receive up to three, but the first one received by the Supervisor of Elections is the one counted (Supervisor of Elections). Each voter marks his or her own ballot unless help is needed because of blindness, disability or inability to read or write, and a power of attorney cannot sign the certificate envelope for a voter in a Vero Beach care facility or anywhere else in the county.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections vote-by-mail pages.