Polling places to change for 2020
Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County’s Supervisor of Elections, announced Monday polling places around the county are set to change for the upcoming election year.
“We don’t want anyone to show up at the wrong place on Election Day, so we work very hard to let voters know where their polling place is,” Latimer said. “But the best way to avoid an Election Day mistake is to take advantage of Early Voting or Vote By Mail.”
Hillsborough will have 260 polling places open in 2020 and 23 Early Voting locations, an increase from last year’s total of 20, open for the 14 days leading up to each Election Day. Registered voters in precincts set to get a new polling place will receive new Voter Information Cards in January 2020 with the updated information. You can also visit votehillsborough.org/VOTERS/Voting-Precincts to look up your new polling places using your street address and preferred language (English or Spanish).
To vote by mail, visit votehillsborough.org or call 813-744-5900 to sign up for mail ballots. Vote By Mail requests expire after two general elections. Florida has closed primaries, so only registered party members can vote in their party’s primary. To join a party, submit an updated Voter Registration Application 29 days before a primary. All registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote on issues and nonpartisan races during a primary.
Visit votehillsborough.org for more information.
HCSO issues gift card scam warning
Just because a gift card is in a store waiting to be purchased doesn’t mean it’s been tampered with, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister warned Tuesday.
Chronister and the Tampa Bay Regional Intelligence Center are making the public aware of an increase in consumer fraud around Christmastime in the Tampa Bay Area, especially with gift cards. Scammers have taken to covering the original bar codes with their own, Chronister said, which funnels consumers’ money into their own accounts instead of the gift cards.
“Scammers are taking gift cards outside of stores and covering the cards with a bar code from another gift card they have already activated,” HCSO said in a news release. “The scammers then return to the store and place the gift cards back on the sales rack. When a customer goes to purchase the tampered gift card, the cashier activates the card by scanning the code. The money is then loaded to the scammer’s already activated card and not the card purchased by the customer.”
Consumers and retailers should be on the lookout for three signs of tampering: unusual tears or damage to the packaging (which suggest someone put their own label over the real one), pin numbers that have been scratched off and cards with barcode numbers on the back that don’t match the numbers on the label. If you see a card you’re suspicious of, report it to the manager, ask for permission to open the card at purchase to verify it hasn’t been tampered with or keep your receipt for proof of purchase.
“Remember, anyone who has the number on a gift card has access to the funds on that card,” Chronister said. “Since gift cards can be used like cash, they are an easy target for thieves around the holiday shopping season. We’re asking shoppers to thoroughly check the cards they are purchasing for any signs of tampering before leaving the store to help stop this crime from occurring.”