More than 150,000 mail ballots sent out to Treasure Coast voters with more to come

A record number of mail ballots were mailed out across the Treasure Coast Thursday, shattering previous totals and showing a potential sign of how residents plan to approach voting in the middle of a pandemic. 

Nearly 157,000 mail ballots were sent, and more are expected to be mailed out as registered voters continue to request ballots.

Voter registration is open until Oct. 5. Requests for a vote-by-mail ballot are accepted until Oct. 24. Early voting begins Oct. 19 and Election Day is Nov. 3. 

More: TCPalm's election guide, important dates and information

In St. Lucie County, the Supervisor of Elections Office sent 68,518 vote-by-mail ballots and has nearly an additional 8,000 to send as requests continue to come in. In the 2016 general election, about 41,000 people voted by mail.  

In Martin County, 45,657 mail ballots were sent out, with less than 1,000 more to mail. For the November 2016 election, about 36,000 ballots were sent and around 30,000 returned. For this year's August primary, nearly 39,000 ballots were requested with nearly 25,000 returned. 

In Indian River County, 42,518 ballots were sent out Thursday. In 2016, about 23,000 people voted by mail. 

The Nov. 3 election features races for president, a number of local and federal offices and a statewide ballot initiative to set the minimum wage at $15 per hour.

Joshua Solomon is a politics reporter covering the Treasure Coast. You can reach him at 772-692-8935 or joshua.solomon@tcpalm.com. 

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