📫 Absent absentees

📭 Fewer voters by mail, longer lines

The shift to voting by mail that gripped Florida during the COVID-plagued 2020 presidential campaign is over. 

The number of voters seeking vote-by-mail ballots is in sharp decline.

Why that’s important: If the trend continues through Oct. 24, the last day to ask for a vote-by-mail ballot for the presidential election, it means longer lines at early voting and Election Day sites, Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link said.

• In 2020, 4.8 million voters, or 43 percent of all state voters, cast a ballot by mail. As of July 12, just 1.1 million had requested a vote-by-mail ballot.

• In Palm Beach County, 387,000 votes were cast by mail in the 2020 Biden-Trump contest, about half of all votes. As of mid-July, 168,000 had been requested. The county has 854,000 active registered voters, also in decline since 2020, as Stet reported last week.

  Subscribe now

Requests for vote-by-mail ballots submitted for the Aug. 20 primary will be honored for the Nov. 5 presidential election, Link said. To sign up for a vote-by-mail ballot, click here. 

At a media event Friday, Link emphasized that if you used to get a ballot in the mail you need to ask again. Changes to state law wipe the slate clean after every major election. 

The change came as the Florida Legislature acted on former President Donald Trump’s unproven claims that vote-by-mail ballots were manipulated, costing him the 2020 election.

With fewer voters casting ballots by mail, more will head to the polls, Link said. In non-COVID years, vote-by-mail ballots have accounted for about a third of votes cast. 

Yes, but: The state also made it harder to drop off a ballot at a drop box. In fact, the Legislature banned the phrase. It’s now called a secure ballot intake station. The supervisor must pay two workers to monitor the stations. 

On Friday, election workers rolled out 16 pallets, each containing about 10,000 ballots in postal boxes secured by shrink-wrap, for shipping. The ballots filled a U.S. Postal Service semitrailer-truck. 

“It’s exciting for me,” said Link, who was appointed election supervisor in 2019 and is seeking reelection on the November ballot to her second full term. “This is the beginning of the election cycle.”

Of note: The supervisor’s new $50 million headquarters at the former site of the King’s Academy in Westgate near Belvedere Road and Military Trail is now open. Among its many advances are efforts to afford the public a clear view of vote-counting.

Poll workers wanted: The elections office needs 5,000 poll workers for November and has 3,000. Pay is $225 for basic duties, $415 for precinct clerks. Sign up here. 

🎨 Nature in blue and white

A giant metal orchid could be planted in Avenir’s Town Center if Palm Beach Gardens City Council members approve.

Why it’s important: The installation would inject art into an otherwise typical retail center.

It would also fulfill the city’s requirement that all new nonresidential development that costs $1 million or more include art with a value equal to or greater than 1% of the construction costs.

• Developers could instead contribute cash to the city’s art in public places fund.

What happened: Palm Beach Gardens’ Art in Public Places Advisory Board approved the orchid design last week.

Details: The proposed sculpture, titled “Silhouette,” is designed by West Palm Beach artist Ben Leone. It is a 10-foot-tall profile of an orchid made of aluminum and painted to resemble Chinese and Dutch porcelain vessels.

• Construction costs for three buildings in the town center are estimated at $10.5 million, according to city records. The art project is expected to cost $125,000.

• The sculpture would be coated with anti-graffiti clear paint and lighted at night.

• Leone is the artist behind the fanciful pink orchid blooms installed last year on the Anya apartment building in downtown West Palm Beach.

The orchid was chosen because it symbolizes environmental beauty, according to Coral Gables-based Landstar Development Group’s presentation.

• The blue-and-white design adorning the sculpture echoes flower pots commonly seen in South Florida homes.

• The theme is progress and preservation.

About Avenir’s Town Center: The center off of Northlake Boulevard is approved for a Publix Super Market, Walgreens, restaurants, offices and townhomes. The Publix is expected to open this fall.

What is Avenir: Nearly 4,000 homes, many selling for more than $1 million, rising on the 4,760-acre former Vavrus Ranch property west of the Beeline Highway.

What’s next: If council members approve, the project will be installed by February 2025.

🫛 The juice

🏗️ Related Cos.’ Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and principal in CityPlace, is stepping down from the company he founded while carving out a new company, Related Ross, to continue overseeing Related’s investments in West Palm Beach and the Southeast United States. (The Wall Street Journal $$$)

🩺 More than 20,000 Florida Department of Health files containing sensitive information including lab results, signed medical release forms, workers compensation records and COVID-19 diagnoses were seized by hackers and released last week on the dark web. (Miami Herald $$$)

🖼️ The New York Times published its appreciation last week of the Norton Museum of Art’s former director, Hope Alswang. (NYT gift link)

🇨🇴 ‘I Am La Chiva:’ West Palm Beach children’s author Karol Hernández’s new book is a ride through Colombia. (WLRN)

👑 561 insider: A first-timer’s guide to Shakespeare by the Sea

File this under the post-COVID category of not taking live performances for granted: an invitation to a Shakespeare play under the stars.

What’s happening: The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival launched its 34th season of Shakespeare by the Sea last week with “King Lear.”

• The performance is free with a $5 suggested donation.

Five things to know:

1. Although “Lear” is one of Shakespeare’s bleakest tragedies, Director Trent Stephens’ production is accessible and full of life. 

2. Not a Shakespeare expert? Get familiar with the sweeping plot before you go. Here’s a synopsis.

3. In a turnabout of the tradition of men portraying women on stage that dates to ancient Greece, the king is played by actress Amy Simms.

4. Shakespeare by the Sea is a community-supported production, but the players and crew are professional, experienced and compensated, Managing Producer Elizabeth Dashiell said.

5. It’s a grass-seating amphitheater situation. Go all in with a gourmet picnic or check out the food truck. For comfort, Stephens and Dashiell recommend the 9-by-12 canvas drop cloth from Harbor Freight. (Carolyn will be getting one.) Be smart: Bring bug spray.

Of note: The nonprofit festival’s largest single source of money is the state, at $25,000. That will pause this year after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in spending on arts and culture.

• Despite that, “We will never have tickets at the door,” Stephens said. 

Our favorite details: Stephens and his wife Lisa have a daughter named Ophelia, and Dashiell has a daughter named Regan.

If you go: Performances are Thursday through Sunday at Carlin Park in Jupiter. The production moves to Commons Park in Royal Palm Beach for four more shows July 25 to 28. For all performances, gates open at 6:30 pm and the play starts at 8.

🌱 Help us grow by sharing this newsletter.

Share

📪 Do you have a story or tip about something we should know? Hit reply to this email.

🤗 Join us on Facebook, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn or X.