Floridians who recently renewed or replaced their Florida driver's licenses may need to update their voter registration information, too.
Under a new policy stemming from a 2022 law, renewal or replacement driver's licenses now get a new, randomized ID number to help prevent fraud and identity theft.
Brad Ashwell, Florida state director for All Voting is Local, is raising attention about another effect.
“Voters need to know that they need to update their registration to reflect this new number, or it could impact them if they try to vote by mail or if they sign a ballot petition,” Ashwell said. “It's just something that's going to sneak up on voters if they're not aware of it.”
While Floridians get the option to update their voter registration when they get the new license, he said many don't know they should.
“I would just urge voters to update their registration information anyway,” Ashwell added. “It's a good way to make sure everything's up to date and that could eliminate a lot of problems we see on Election Day.”
The information can be updated over the mail or online. Floridians can also do so by calling their local supervisor of elections.
In a press release, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said it began implementing the ID number randomization on July 31, 2024.
FLHSMV representatives didn’t respond to questions.
The Florida Department of State, which oversees elections and voter registration, emphasized in an email that “an old driver’s license number should not prohibit a person from voting.”
When voting in person, if the information is not updated, “poll workers should be able to find the voter using a different method (a name for example),” said Gretl Plessinger, the communications director.
When voting by mail: “If the latest Florida driver’s license/state ID number is not in the voter’s record, the spervisor must update the voter’s record with the number that the voter provided,” Plessinger said. “Once that number is verified, and all other required information is submitted, the voter may obtain a ballot to vote.”
A look at one county
Leon County has been preparing for the shift.
“Election offices statewide have been aware of the changes to Florida's driver's license and state ID numbering system for quite some time,” said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley in a statement.
“We have been working closely with state officials to ensure that the changeover would cause minimal disruption to voters' ability to vote or conduct other business with our offices such as requesting a Vote-by-Mail ballot.”
If voters do experience issues or have concerns, he encourages them to contact their county supervisor of elections office to “verify that everything in their voter registration record is up to date and accurate.”
While the 2026 primary and general elections are more than a year away, there are a multitude of separate special and municipal elections beginning as early as Sept. 2.
The ID issue “is already starting to come up in small numbers in a lot of counties,” Ashwell said.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
