Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark announces that ballot mailings for the January 31, 2012 Presidential Preference Primary are tentatively scheduled as follows for Pinellas County voters registered with the Republican Party and for voters residing in Clearwater, Kenneth City, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach and Tarpon Springs:

December 16 – Mail nearly 1,000 ballots to absent military and overseas voters requested to date. State law requires ballots for absent military and overseas voters to be mailed at least 45 days prior to an election.

January 3 – Mail approximately 108,000 domestic ballots requested to date. State law now requires domestic ballots to be mailed beginning between the 35th and 28th days prior to an election.

Absent military and overseas voters include all active-duty military, their spouses and dependents, currently absent from their places of residence; and civilians who are U.S. citizens residing outside the United States. Domestic voters are civilian voters residing within the United States and active-duty military voters residing in Pinellas County.

Florida has closed primaries; only voters registered with a political party may vote in that party’s primary. There is no Democratic presidential preference primary, because there is only one nominee, President Barack Obama. All registered voters residing in Clearwater, Kenneth City, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach and Tarpon Springs may vote in their nonpartisan municipal elections on January 31.

Additional mail ballot requests will be fulfilled daily as received. To request a mail ballot, visit www.votepinellas.com, call (727) 464-VOTE (464-8683), or email absentee@votepinellas.com.

Daily ballot requests and ballot mailing updates are posted to the Supervisor of Elections Web site, www.votepinellas.com, under the Current Elections tab, once mailings begin.