//Run for office · Florida

How to run for local office in Florida

Florida's statewide voter file is free from the Division of Elections, and every county Supervisor posts a daily file of who has requested, returned and cast ballots, so you can chase ballots from day one of the window.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Florida runs local elections through 67 county Supervisors of Elections and, for city races, through municipal clerks. County commission, school board and constitutional-officer seats are filled at the state's August primary and November general in even years; municipal elections follow each city's charter, so many cities vote in odd years or in the spring. The rules are uniform statewide (chapters 97 through 106 of the Florida Statutes), but the officer you hand your paperwork to depends on the office.

Two facts shape a Florida ground game. The statewide voter extract is a public record the Division of Elections generates monthly and provides on request, with ten years of vote history, party, birth date, and phone and email where the voter supplied them. And because a large share of Florida voters vote by mail or early, Supervisors must update vote-by-mail request and return information by 8 a.m. every day and share it with opposed candidates, so you always know who is still worth a knock.

Election authority: Florida Department of State, Division of Elections
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · No charge is listed for the scheduled monthly extract on the Division's request page (checked 2026-09-09). The Division mails the file on a disk; it is not delivered by email or download.
Campaign finance: Electronic Filing System (EFS) for candidates who file with the Division; counties and cities run their own portals (Florida Division of Elections, Bureau of Election Records (campaign finance))
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: 29 days before each election; the registration books close on the 29th day and stay closed until after the election (s. 97.055). Name, address and signature updates are still accepted while the books are closed.
Local offices: County commission, sheriff, clerk, tax collector, property appraiser and supervisor of elections are partisan and nominated in the August primary. School board members are elected in nonpartisan elections under chapter 105. Municipal offices are typically nonpartisan under city charters; confirm in yours.

Who runs elections in Florida

Florida Department of State, Division of Elections The Division of Elections administers the statewide voter registration system, publishes the monthly voter extract, sets the qualifying and reporting calendars, runs the electronic filing system for state candidates, and compiles the daily early-voting and vote-by-mail reports counties submit. A city council or school board candidate rarely files anything with the Division directly: your filing officer is the county Supervisor of Elections or the municipal clerk. You will use the Division for the voter extract, the candidate handbooks, and the statewide ballot-request files.

Each of Florida's 67 counties has an elected Supervisor of Elections who registers voters, maintains the county roll, mails vote-by-mail ballots, runs early voting and election-day precincts, and serves as qualifying and filing officer for county, school board and single-county district candidates. Municipal elections are governed by the Election Code unless a charter or ordinance says otherwise (s. 100.3605); in practice the city clerk is the qualifying and filing officer for city candidates and the Supervisor usually conducts the election under contract with the city.

Getting the Florida voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Florida it comes from Florida Department of State, Division of Elections (statewide voter extract).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: No charge is listed for the scheduled monthly extract on the Division's request page (checked 2026-09-09). The Division mails the file on a disk; it is not delivered by email or download.
Format: Zip archives of tab-delimited ASCII text: 67 county registration files (one row per voter, 38 columns) plus 67 county voting history files (one row per voter per election), with a code table for parties, races and vote-history codes.
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Included where on file
Updated: Monthly. The Division posts each year's generation dates (for 2026: September 16, October 14, November 12 and December 16, among others). Your request must arrive at least 24 hours before the scheduled date or it is filled with the next month's file. Official vote history for an election appears the month after it was due from the counties.

Who can get it: Anyone. Voter registration and voting history are public records under Florida law; s. 97.0585 exempts only Social Security, driver license and state ID numbers, the source of the registration, and signatures (which may be viewed but not copied). You do not need to be a candidate or a party to request the extract.

Permitted use: No use restriction is stated on the Division's request page. Florida treats the data as a public record, and the same file is used by campaigns, parties, researchers and vendors.

County option: Your county Supervisor of Elections can provide a county-level voter list and, during an election, the daily vote-by-mail and early-voting files (s. 101.62 and s. 101.657). Fees and formats vary by county; ask the Supervisor's candidate or records desk. For a single city council race, the county file plus the daily returns is usually all you need.

Registration fields include voter ID, name, residence and mailing address, gender, race, birth date, registration date, party, precinct, active or inactive status, congressional, House, Senate, county commission and school board districts, daytime phone, and email address (Division file layout revised 2026-05-04).
The history file carries ten years of official vote history for federal and state elections and ten years of unofficial history for local elections, coded by election date and type (primary, general, presidential preference primary, special) and by how the voter voted.
Voters in the Attorney General's Address Confidentiality Program and voters who requested a public-records exemption are flagged, and their protected fields are suppressed.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Florida

Florida has no signature requirement to get on the ballot if you pay the qualifying fee; the petition route only replaces the fee. County, school board and special district candidates qualify during a single five-day window keyed to the August primary. Municipal candidates qualify under their city's charter or ordinance, often on a different calendar entirely. Partisan county offices carry a 6 percent-of-salary fee and go through the party primary; school board seats are nonpartisan and cost 4 percent.

File with: County, school board and single-county special district offices: the county Supervisor of Elections. Multi-county districts and state offices: the Division of Elections. Municipal offices: the municipal clerk, on qualifying dates set by charter or ordinance (s. 100.3605; s. 106.011(11)).
Filing fee: Partisan county offices: 6 percent of the office's annual salary (3 percent filing fee, 1 percent election assessment, 2 percent party assessment, s. 99.092); the Division's 2026 fee table shows no-party candidates paying two-thirds of the partisan amount. School board (nonpartisan): 4 percent (3 percent filing fee plus 1 percent election assessment, s. 105.031). Salary is 12 times the July 1 monthly salary, so the Supervisor publishes the dollar figure each cycle. Municipal fees are set by ordinance.
Petition: In lieu of the fee, collect signatures of registered voters in the office's geographic area equal to at least 1 percent of the registered voters there (s. 99.095 for county and district offices; s. 105.035 for school board). Petitions are due to the Supervisor before noon on the 28th day before the first day of qualifying, and the Supervisor certifies the count no later than the 7th day before qualifying opens.
Partisan?: County commission, sheriff, clerk, tax collector, property appraiser and supervisor of elections are partisan and nominated in the August primary. School board members are elected in nonpartisan elections under chapter 105. Municipal offices are typically nonpartisan under city charters; confirm in yours.

Filing window: County, school board and special district candidates qualify from noon on the 71st day before the primary to noon on the 67th day before it (s. 99.061(2), s. 105.031). The primary is the Tuesday 11 weeks before the general (s. 100.061), so the window is always Monday to Friday in early June of even years: June 8 to 12, 2026, and June 12 to 16, 2028. Municipal qualifying is set by charter or ordinance under s. 100.3605, so ask your city clerk; there is no statewide municipal window.

Key Florida dates
What	When	Note
Municipal qualifying, 2027 city elections	Varies	Set by each city's charter or ordinance under s. 100.3605; the municipal clerk is the qualifying officer. Ask the clerk for the 2027 dates and fee.
Voter registration close, 2027 municipal elections	Varies	Registration books close on the 29th day before each election (s. 97.055).
Vote-by-mail request deadline, any election	Varies	5 p.m. local time on the 12th day before the election (s. 101.62(1)(b)).
Petition deadline, 2028 county and school board offices	May 15, 2028	Noon of the 28th day before the first day of qualifying (s. 99.095, s. 105.035), computed from the June 12, 2028 opening. Confirm with the Supervisor.
Qualifying opens, 2028 county, school board and special district offices	June 12, 2028	Noon of the 71st day before the August 22, 2028 primary (s. 99.061(2), s. 105.031; primary date under s. 100.061).
Qualifying closes, 2028 county, school board and special district offices	June 16, 2028	Noon of the 67th day before the primary.
Primary election, 2028	August 22, 2028	Tuesday 11 weeks before the November 7, 2028 general election (s. 100.061).

Campaign finance rules in Florida

State-level campaign finance in Florida is overseen by Florida Division of Elections, Bureau of Election Records (campaign finance) through Electronic Filing System (EFS) for candidates who file with the Division; counties and cities run their own portals.

Where local candidates file: You file campaign treasurer's reports with the same officer you qualify with (s. 106.07). The filing officer is the Division for state and multi-county offices, the county Supervisor of Elections for county court judge, countywide and district offices, and the municipal clerk for municipal offices (s. 106.011(11), as laid out in the Division's 2026 Candidate and Campaign Treasurer Handbook). Many counties and cities require their own electronic filing by ordinance, which s. 106.07 allows, so ask your filing officer which portal to use. Before you raise or spend a dollar you must file Form DS-DE 9, the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository, with that filing officer (s. 106.021).

Contribution limits: A person or political committee may give a candidate for county office, or for any office elected on less than a countywide basis (which covers city council, school board and single-member county districts), $1,000 per election; statewide candidates may take $3,000 (s. 106.08(1)(a)). The primary and general are separate elections unless you are unopposed, so a donor can give $1,000 for each. In-kind contributions count against the same limit. Political parties are not subject to the cap.

Reporting: Quarterly reports due on the 10th day after each calendar quarter once your treasurer is appointed; then, for county, district and municipal candidates, a report on the 60th day before the primary and biweekly each Friday through the 4th day before the general (s. 106.07). The Division's 2026 calendar for non-statewide candidates shows the rhythm: Q1 due April 10, Q2 due June 10, then seven pre-primary reports from June 19 to August 14 and six pre-general reports from August 28 to October 30. Municipal candidates follow the same statute keyed to the city's election dates; your clerk publishes the calendar.

Chapter 106 defines 'election' to include municipal elections, so the treasurer, reporting and contribution rules apply to a city council race even though you file with the clerk rather than the Division.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Florida Division of Elections, Bureau of Election Records (campaign finance) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Florida

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. Florida voters choose among election-day precinct voting, in-person early voting, and no-excuse vote-by-mail. A vote-by-mail request covers all elections only through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election (s. 101.62(1)(a)), so requests made before the November 2026 general expire at the end of 2026, and a campaign that helps supporters re-request early in 2027 has a real edge.

Early voting: Mandatory for elections with state or federal races: begins the 10th day before the election and ends the 3rd day before, 8 to 12 hours a day, and counties may add the 15th through 11th days and the 2nd day (s. 101.657(1)(d)). For a stand-alone municipal election early voting is optional; the Supervisor is not required to offer it (s. 101.657(1)(e)), so ask whether your city will have it.
Mail ballots: No excuse needed. Request by 5 p.m. on the 12th day before the election (s. 101.62(1)(b)). One request is good for all elections through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election, then must be renewed.
Registration deadline: 29 days before each election; the registration books close on the 29th day and stay closed until after the election (s. 97.055). Name, address and signature updates are still accepted while the books are closed.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: Two sources. First, your county Supervisor: under s. 101.62(2) the Supervisor must provide vote-by-mail request and return information, updated no later than 8 a.m. each day, to candidates who have qualified and face opposition, political parties and registered political committees, for political purposes only. Second, the Division's county files portal, where every county uploads one vote-by-mail file (restricted to statutorily authorized persons such as opposed candidates and parties) and one early-voting file (public) by 8 a.m. daily, from 60 days before the election through 15 days after, under Rule 1S-2.043. Load the daily file, drop everyone who has voted from your walk and mail lists, and re-run the next morning.

Local government in Florida: what you can run for

67 counties, each with an elected commission and elected constitutional officers; the 2022 Census of Governments counts 66 county governments because Jacksonville and Duval County are consolidated. The same census counts 412 municipal governments, 1,374 special districts and 95 independent school districts in Florida; the 67 county school boards are elected on a nonpartisan basis under chapter 105. Counties and cities have home rule, so charters set municipal election dates, qualifying and terms (s. 100.3605). There are no townships. Special districts (community development, fire, water, hospital) elect boards under their enabling acts and qualify with the Supervisor if single-county or the Division if multi-county (s. 99.061(3)).

City or town council / commission
Mayor
County commissioner
School board member
Sheriff
Clerk of court and comptroller
Property appraiser
Tax collector
Supervisor of elections
Special district board (CDD, fire, water, hospital)

When local elections happen: County and school board seats are on the state calendar: the August primary (Tuesday 11 weeks before the general) and the November general in even years, with school board races often decided outright in August. Municipal elections are set by charter; many cities vote in odd years or in the spring, and a stand-alone city election has its own registration close, vote-by-mail deadline and, if the city chooses, early voting. Check your Supervisor's election calendar for your city's 2027 date.

Running your Florida campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Florida today. You upload the Florida voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Florida campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Florida questions we get asked

Where does a Florida city council candidate qualify and file campaign reports?

With the municipal clerk. Florida's filing officer is the person you qualify before: the Division of Elections for state offices, the county Supervisor of Elections for county, school board and single-county district offices, and the municipal clerk for municipal offices (s. 106.011(11)). Your treasurer's reports go to that same officer (s. 106.07), on the calendar your clerk publishes under the city charter.

How much does the Florida voter file cost and what is in it?

The Division of Elections lists no fee for its scheduled monthly voter extract. You email a request at least 24 hours before the monthly generation date and receive the file on disk by mail. The extract holds every active and inactive voter in Florida with address, birth date, party, race, gender, precinct, districts, and phone and email where supplied, plus ten years of vote history in a separate file. Your county Supervisor can also provide a county-level list.

What is the contribution limit for a local race in Florida?

$1,000 per person or committee per election for county offices and any office elected on less than a countywide basis, which includes city council and school board (s. 106.08(1)(a)). The primary and general count separately unless you are unopposed. Statewide candidates may accept $3,000. Political parties are exempt from the limit.

When is qualifying for county commission and school board in Florida?

Noon on the 71st day before the primary to noon on the 67th day before it (s. 99.061(2) for county offices, s. 105.031 for school board). Because the primary is fixed 11 weeks before the general, the window for 2028 runs June 12 to June 16, 2028. Petitions in lieu of the fee are due 28 days before qualifying opens, which is May 15, 2028.

How do I find out who has already voted in a Florida election?

Ask your county Supervisor of Elections for the daily vote-by-mail and early-voting files. Under s. 101.62(2) the Supervisor must update ballot-request information by 8 a.m. daily and give it to qualified opposed candidates, parties and political committees for political use. The Division's county files portal mirrors every county's daily upload: early-voting files are public, and vote-by-mail files go to authorized requesters.

Does Florida have early voting for city elections?

Only if the Supervisor chooses to offer it. Early voting is mandatory for elections that include state or federal races (the 10th through the 3rd day before the election) but optional for a stand-alone municipal election (s. 101.657(1)(e)). Ask your Supervisor and clerk before you build a get-out-the-vote calendar around it.

Do Florida vote-by-mail requests carry over to 2027 local elections?

Usually not. A request is good for all elections through the end of the calendar year of the next regularly scheduled general election (s. 101.62(1)(a)), so requests made before the November 3, 2026 general expire on December 31, 2026. Supporters who want a mail ballot for a 2027 Florida municipal election must submit a new request by 5 p.m. on the 12th day before that election.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.