Here we go. The political season just got real.
Miami-Dade’s Elections Department has mailed out the first batch of vote-by-mail or absentee ballots for the upcoming Nov. 4 municipal elections in Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Homestead and Surfside — which means the mailboxes in those zip codes are about to get a workout.
About 39,000 ballots rolled out of the county’s elections warehouse in Doral Monday morning, and were loaded onto a U.S. Postal Service truck under the watchful eye of the media and Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina García, who made sure everyone saw the process. Cameras rolling, ballots stacked, democracy in motion.
Read related: The end of absentee ballots? Who’s crying in Miami-Dade County?
The bulk of those (21,258) were sent to Miami voters, who are looking at a historic mayoral election to replace the termed out Francis Suarez — with no fewer than 13 candidates — and two commission races, including the District 3 race to replace the termed out Joe Carollo, who is running for mayor. Another 8.041 went to city of Hialeah voters, which seems low.
“Building the public’s trust through secure, fair, accurate, and accessible elections is my pledge,” García said in a statement, adding that vote-by-mail remains one of three ways Miami-Dade voters can cast their ballots — along with early voting and Election Day itself.
On Monday, before the TV cameras, Garcia said that the absentee voting process was safe, even though President Donald Trump says otherwise, because election workers check the signature every step of the way. “Voting by mail in Florida is very secure,” she said.
Maybe it is now, after several local and state laws have changed. And as a former campaign operative for the likes of former Congressman David Rivera and former Sen. Frank Artiles — who paid a sham candidate $50,000 to fix a Florida Senate race in 2020 — Garcia should know better than anyone.
Miami-Dade has a long storied past of absentee ballot fraud and other misgivings. The boleteros who handle these ABs have long been part of the local voting scene. They didn’t just create just an industry. They created a culture.
Read related: Frank Artiles arrested for sham state senate election — but was he alone?
One of the oldest known and possibly most notorious chapters was the 1997 Miami mayoral election. There was evidence of fraud — people casting ABs from Westchester, Broward and beyond the grave — that eventually overturned the election and won The Miami Herald a Pulitzer for investigative journalism (Ladra’s second).
It was pretty quiet on the absentee front until 2011, when several people were caught harvesting absentee ballots during the special post-recall mayoral election and 2012, when a Hialeah ballot ring was investigated by the Miami-Dade Police public corruption unit later decimated by former Mayor Carlos Gimenez after (read: because) he was implicated in it.
Among the characters arrested for some kind of absentee ballot shenanigans: Sergio “El Tio” Robaina, a relative of former Mayor Julio Robaina, Miami-Dade District 13 aide Anamary Pedrosa — who was working in then county Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo‘s Hialeah office when she was caught stuffing ballots into the trunk of her car — and Deisy Cabrera, who got a “pan con bistec” delivered to her in a paper bag by Commissioner Rene Garcia after she was released.
In response, Miami-Dade passed a law that nobody could carry more than two ballots at a time.
In 2013, two men were arrested after they allegedly visited a Homestead home and filled out four people’s absentee ballots against their desires. They also allegedly possessed more than two ballots at a time.
As the use of vote-by-mail or absentee ballots increased, the Florida legislature also responded, with new ID requirements and ballot drop box limits in 2020 and a new law that requires the renewal of absentee or vote-by-mail ballot requests after every major election cycle. Previously, an absentee ballot request would last at least two cycles.
Many of the campaigns for the candidates in these five cities with elections next month have been focused on getting absentee ballot requests submitted. And this is the moment they’ve all been waiting — and fundraising — for.
Stacks of ABs are loaded on a truck and headed for the post office.
Now that those ballots are out, campaign mailers will start hitting doorsteps fast. Expect the flood of glossy flyers, “urgent messages,” and last-minute text “reminders” to vote. Some will arrive so often you’ll start to think your mail carrier’s on the campaign payroll. Then it will be the phone calls from the campaigns to make sure you mailed your ballot back.
This is when campaigns shift from yard signs and social media to the real battleground — the kitchen table. Because once people start filling in those bubbles, it’s game on. Because now that those ballots are out — every candidate, consultant, and campaign manager in the 305 is hitting “send” on a hundred different voter contact plans.
Enjoy the brief calm before your mailbox fills with “friends of,” and “for the future of,” and “we can’t afford four more years of…”
You know the drill.
Let the games begin.

A reminder for voters
If you want to vote by mail and haven’t requested your ballot yet, there’s still time — but pay attention to the fine print.
Under Florida’s new rules, any vote-by-mail requests made before the 2024 general election expired on Jan. 1, 2025. That means you have to renew your request if you haven’t already.
Ballots cannot be forwarded by the Post Office, so if you’ve moved or will be away, you’ll need to submit a Statewide Vote-By-Mail Ballot Request Form with your signature.
And remember: your completed ballot must be received (not just postmarked) by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 4, or it doesn’t count. So don’t wait till the last minute — mail it early so the elections office can contact you if there’s a problem with your signature.
More info, and a link to request an absentee ballot, is at www.votemiamidade.gov.

The post ABs are out for November 4 elections — and so is the flood of campaign mail appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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It may not be a general or mid-term election year, but several cities in Miami-Dade have important elections that can impact the lives of their residents for years to come. The biggest are in Miami and Hialeah, where mayoral contests will be wide open, and Miami Beach and Homestead. Those four are in November.
There are also other elections in smaller municipalities scattered throughout the year with different qualifying periods.
The first two elections in Miami-Dade for 2025 were cancelled.
In Golden Beach, Mayor Glenn Singer and Councilmember Judy Lusskin were re-elected without opposition. Newly elected Councilmember Jessie Mendal, who is filling the seat vacated by Jaime Mendal, who served for eight years, was elected without any opposition. In Hialeah Gardens, Mayor Yioset de la Cruz and two council members — Group 5 and Group 6, but the website doesn’t say who is which group — were also re-elected with no opposition. Which is predictable in these tiny towns.
Read related: Long list of potential 2025 Miami mayoral candidates starts to take form
There could be an election in Bay Harbor Islands, where there are two candidates in one of the council races, so far. And in Miami Springs, where there is some movement based on term limits and personal reasons leaving an open mayoral and three open council seats. Both of those are April 1, but qualifying doesn’t end until Feb. 20 and Feb. 14, respectively.

There is also a special election in Surfside on April 1, where voters will be asked if the charter should be amended to limit the floor area ratio to a maximum 0.50 for new detached single family homes in the H30A and H30B districts. That’s basically half the size of the lot area. The only exception would be made after a unanimous approval from the commission and a 60% vote of the public.
Floor area ratio (FAR) is the measurement of a building’s floor area in relation to the size of the lot/parcel. FAR is expressed as a decimal, derived by dividing the total area of the building by the total area of the parcel. Higher FARs indicate greater building volume. FAR is most often used to express development intensity and has spurred much debate at several municipal zoning meetings.
The first highly-anticipated and contentious election is in Coral Gables on April 8. The truly contested mayoral race is expected to be dirty and full of lies, as Mayor Vince Lago defends his position to a challenge from Commissioner Kirk Menendez. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson is also up for re-election and is facing a challenge from Felix Pardo and Laureano Cancio. The open seat vacated by Menendez will see a contest between attorney Richard Lara, the handpicked and groomed Lago candidate, FreeBee lobbyist Claudia Miro, who lost a commission race in 2021, and attorney Tom Wells.
Read related: Two more candidates say they will run for Coral Gables commission in April
The Lago/Anderson/Lara slate is being cast as the pro-development, anti-resident ticket. But Lago’s pull is questionable. He was unopposed two years ago but supported two commission candidates who lost. Shortly after that, he lost the majority. Lara is his attempt to get it back. If he and Anderson win, but Lara loses, Lago will still be as paralyzed by the 3-2 vote as he is now.
April 8 is also the date for the Miami Shores election and the special election to fill a vacant commission seat in Biscayne Park.
In May, voters in Sweetwater have an election scheduled for commissioners in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. City Clerk Carmen Garcia told Political Cortadito that nobody has registered yet. The deadline to qualify is March 28.
Of course, the big races are in November, and Ladra will have independent stories on each of those as the campaigns roll out.
A relatively new Florida law requires all vote-by-mail ballot requests to be purged after every general and midterm election. But the county elections department has been sending out emails and text messages to get traditional absentee ballot voters to make their requests. As of Wednesday, since 19,113 have requested a vote-by-mail ballot since Jan. 1 of this year, according to the Miami-Dade Elections Department.
To request an absentee ballot for an election in any of these cities, visit the county elections department’s page.
The post Miami-Dade 2025 election calendar starts with cancelled races, April ballots appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Look in your mailbox. If you’re one of the people who get absentee or vote-by-mail ballots from the Miami-Dade Elections Department, you could be getting one this week. At least 260,000 went out Monday.

That’s less than half of the 530,000 ballots mailed out for the 2020 general in just the first mailing, according to figures provided by the department’s deputy director, Roberto Rodriguez, who said another 20K to 30K will be sent next. Even the August 2020 primary had more ABs sent to voters, with 332,000 going out in the first batch.

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There is still time to request an absentee/mail-in ballot

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Want to get yours? Here’s how

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A new law wipes out standing AB requests every two years

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