ORLANDO, Fla. — While some counties across Florida have already started sending out vote-by-mail ballots, in Orange County those ballots go out on September 30.

Earlier this month Spectrum News 13 reported on ballot mail delay issues, specifically in Volusia County, where more than 1,000 ballots were not counted during the primary election.

Our Watchdog team investigated to see if there are any delays in the Orlando area.

Bob Grable and his wife Elma walk to the post office to drop off their ballots. They’ve been doing it for years and this year is not any different.

“It’s just another form of exercise for us so we know we will get our ballot in the mail," Elma Grable said.  

But will their ballots make it in time? 

Ahead of ballots being sent out in Orange County, we put the postal system to the test, setting up a P.O. Box near the Supervisor of Elections Office.

Next, we gathered 100 envelopes similar in size to an Orange County vote-by-mail ballot, labeling and then packing with paper so that the weight was comparable.

After sealing them, it was time to hit the road. We divided our mock vote-by-mail ballots, dropping them in 20 different mail boxes across Orange County on Monday, August 31. 

The next day. we received 28 mock ballots in our P.O Box — including one that was ripped in half.

The majority of our ballots, 43 percent, were delivered on Wednesday, two days after we first dropped them in the mail.

Five ballots took more than a week to arrive, 11 days after we first mailed them out.  The U.S. Postal Service denied our request to talk about the experiment, but sent a statement addressing our damaged ballot that reads in part:

 “In order to provide prompt service, most mail (including ballots) goes through high-speed mail processing equipment. Unfortunately, a very small amount of mail pieces may be damaged, due to machine jams or other mechanical issues, and we do everything possible to minimize damaged mail…”

The damages and delays are just some of the reasons why Nathan Broyles is voting in person.

 “I think there is a better control over the votes when you are in person,” Broyles said.

But Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles says real vote-by-mail ballots are marked as official election mail — in big red letters — so the Postal Service pays closer attention to it and can expedite it. Ours were not. 

“Back in the primary the biggest number of ballots received after the election was because of the fact that voters put it in the mail on Election Day or the day after,” Bill Cowels said.

That’s no worry for the Grables, who plan to get their ballots in the mailbox with plenty of time to spare.

“I believe the ballots will get there in plenty of time to be counted, so I’m optimistic about that,” Elma Grable said.

Cowles says 889 ballots were not counted in the recent primary election in Orange County. He said 529 of them had no signature, and 360 had signatures that did not match the state system.

Cowles says 1,423 vote-by-mail ballots came in after Election Day. Of those, 1,273 vote-by-mail ballots were mailed on Election Day or after, leaving 150 ballots mailed and postmarked before Election Day, but didn’t make it to the supervisor of elections office until after Election Day.   

It is important to note in the state of Florida postmarks do not count. All ballots must be at your county supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.