Voter Registration — Sebastian, Florida

Any U.S. citizen who is a legal resident of Florida and of Indian River County, and at least 18, can register to vote at a Sebastian address, and preregistration opens at 16.

Those four conditions come from section 97.041 of the Florida Statutes, which says a person may become a registered voter only if he or she is at least 18, a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of Florida and a legal resident of the county in which registration is sought (s. 97.041, Florida Statutes). For a household in the Sebastian Highlands or along Indian River Drive, that county is Indian River County, so the record sits with the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections and not with Brevard County.

Teenagers can get on the rolls early. A person who is otherwise qualified may preregister on or after the 16th birthday and may vote in any election held on or after the 18th birthday (s. 97.041). A Sebastian River High School student who preregisters at 16 is therefore already on the Indian River County rolls when the 18th birthday arrives, with no second application required.

Two groups are barred until rights are restored: a person adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting, and a person convicted of a felony whose voting rights have not been restored (s. 97.041). The Indian River County Supervisor of Elections links to a Civil Rights Restoration page for that question (Supervisor of Elections). The Florida Division of Elections adds that, effective February 2025, a person whose legal status has changed to U.S. citizen must notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within 30 days (Florida Division of Elections).

Sebastian residents can register online, by mail to the Supervisor of Elections in Vero Beach, or in person at the Tax Collector office at Sebastian Corners on U.S. 1, which handles registrations with driver license work.

Online registration runs through RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov, and the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections states that the online system requires a Florida driver license or Florida ID card and a Social Security number (Register to Vote). A Sebastian resident without a Florida license, such as a new arrival who has not yet visited the Tax Collector, uses the paper application instead. The Florida Division of Elections lists the state form as DS-DE 39 and also accepts registration through any tax collector office that issues driver licenses or ID cards, through a license renewal on GoRenew.com and through designated voter registration agencies (Division of Elections).

Paper applications are easy to find north of Vero Beach. The Supervisor of Elections keeps a list of voter registration agencies where the application can be picked up, and five of them are in Sebastian (Voter Registration Agencies). Completed forms go by hand or by mail to the Supervisor of Elections office at 4375 43rd Avenue, Vero Beach, FL 32967.

Two of those Sebastian sites share one address. The Tax Collector's Sebastian Office is at Sebastian Corners, 1921 U.S. Highway 1, and lists driver license and motorist services among its work (Indian River County Tax Collector); the North branch of the Clerk of Circuit Court shares the 1921 US Highway 1 address. Under state law, applications must be accepted at any driver license office, voter registration agency or supervisor's office when hand delivered during open hours or when mailed (s. 97.053), so a form left at the Sebastian Corners counter is as valid as one carried to Vero Beach.

The deadline to register for the November 3, 2026 general election in Sebastian was October 5, 2026, the 29th day before the election.

Florida closes the registration books on the 29th day before each election, and they stay closed until after that election (s. 97.055). The election day itself is not counted, and if the 29th day lands on a Sunday or legal holiday the books close on the next working day. The Indian River County Supervisor of Elections lists the 2026 general election registration deadline as October 5th (Upcoming Elections), and the Florida Division of Elections gives the same date (Election Dates).

How an application arrives matters at the deadline. A hand-delivered application is registered on the date an office receives it, and a mailed application with a clear postmark is registered on the postmark date (s. 97.053). A form mailed from a Sebastian address on October 5 with a legible postmark therefore counted for the November 3 ballot. An application that is incomplete when the books close leaves the applicant unable to vote in that election.

A late application is not wasted. While the books are closed, new applications are still accepted for later elections, and updates to an existing voter's name, address and signature remain allowed for the upcoming election; a party change is also allowed for an upcoming general election but counts only for later elections when the upcoming election is a primary (s. 97.055). A voter already on the Indian River County rolls who moves from Roseland Road to a Barber Street address in October can still update the record and vote at the new precinct.

A registered Sebastian voter updates an address by phone at 772-226-4700, online or on paper, while name and party changes go on a Florida Voter Registration Application or the online application and signature updates go on the paper application.

The Indian River County Supervisor of Elections states that the residential address on file determines the Election Day voting location and the contests on the ballot, and that a voter can update the record at any time (Supervisor of Elections). An address change within Florida can be made online at RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov, by phone at 772-226-4700 or on the paper application. A phone or electronic change requires the date of birth plus a Florida driver license number, a Florida ID card number or the last four digits of the Social Security number. State law sets the same identifiers for a phone change to the supervisor of the county a voter has moved into (s. 97.1031), so a family moving from Brevard into Sebastian notifies the Indian River County office.

Party changes carry a 29-day rule. The Supervisor of Elections states that party changes must be made at least 29 days prior to an election to be effective for that election (Register to Vote), and state law applies that cutoff to primaries: once the books close, a party change still counts for a general election but only for later elections when the upcoming election is a primary (s. 97.055). The timing matters because Florida is a closed primary state: in partisan primary contests only voters registered in that party may vote for its candidates, while at a general election all registered voters receive the same ballot (Florida is a Closed Primary State). A Sebastian voter registered with no party affiliation can still vote on nonpartisan school board, judicial and local referendum questions in a primary.

For a Sebastian voter, a name change by marriage or other legal process is reported on a Florida Voter Registration Application or the online application (Register to Vote). Signatures need attention too. The signature on file is used to check vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots and petitions, and a voter updates it by returning a Florida Voter Registration Application by mail or in person to the Supervisor of Elections office.

After registering, a Sebastian voter is issued a voter information card within ten days, and the card is informational only, not a form of identification at the polls.

The Supervisor of Elections issues voter information cards to all newly registered voters within ten days of registering, and mails replacement cards automatically whenever a record changes (Register to Vote). The card is not required to vote and cannot be used as ID. The Florida Division of Elections adds that the card shows party affiliation, assigned precinct and polling place, and district offices, and that it is mailed again when a polling place changes (Division of Elections). Which Sebastian precinct and polling place a card names, and how early voting at Sebastian City Hall works, are covered on the voting precincts page; this page stops at the registration record.

Seasonal and departing residents have one more step. A voter moving to a residential address outside Florida must register in the new state, and the Indian River County office provides a Voter Registration Removal Form to cancel the Florida record (Request Removal from Voter Rolls).

City Hall plays a narrow role. The City of Sebastian's Election Information page routes voter registration, precinct and early voting questions to Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan at 772-226-4700, while questions about city elections go to City Clerk Jane Garcia at 772-388-8215 (City of Sebastian). City council candidates file qualifying papers with the City Clerk at Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street, during a qualifying period that generally falls 96 days before the election.

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections website, with deadlines checked against the Florida Division of Elections.