1 million already voted
Signs suggest turnout could reach levels not seen in decades
Almost 1 million people have already voted in Florida’s midterm elections, and those numbers could hit exceptional levels with early voting underway Monday.
More than 930,000 mail-in ballots have been cast for the Nov. 6 election, compared with 1.8 million for the entire midterm election in 2014, according to the state’s Division of Elections.
A total of 55,640 mail-in ballots have already been cast in Broward County, 28,617 in Palm Beach
County and 71,152 in Miami-Dade.
Early signs suggest Florida’s turnout could reach levels not seen for decades, said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida.
Other states have recorded early-voting numbers that “look more like a presidential than a midterm election,” he said, and polling and specialelection turnouts this year signal that voters are energized.
“We have highly competitive gubernatorial and Senate elections, and a lot of money swelling into the state to affect the outcome. A lot is at stake,” McDonald said.
A steady stream of voters lined up Monday at Boca Raton’s downtown library, with a backup of about 20 voters waiting to cast ballots at times throughout Monday morning. That was a far different scene than at Florida Atlantic University’s early-voting site, which had a total of 20 voters by 10 a.m.
Jan Goldberg, a Boca Raton voter who called herself a “desperate Democrat,” couldn’t wait to cast her ballot at the downtown Boca Raton library.
“I said I had to be out here first thing,” Goldberg said. “I’m just so disgusted with Trump and the government. I voted straight Democrat on everything.”
But Republicans had their supporters, too.
Rabbi Adam Eisenberg of Boca Raton said he likes the direction the country is moving in, despite criticisms of how the president achieves his goals. “Federally, I’m a big fan of what’s been accomplished,” Eisenberg said. “Forget about how it’s been accomplished.”
Eisenberg said he was “very afraid of Andrew Gillum” because of his positions against state tuition support for parents who send their children to private and religious schools.
“Gillum is all in line with all the teachers’ unions that want all the money to go to the public schools,” Eisenberg said.
A higher turnout could benefit Democrats, said McDonald at UF, but polling shows that Republicans haven’t lost enthusiasm that delivered sweeping gains to the GOP in the
2014 midterm elections.
Among mail-in voters statewide, Republicans cast 408,696 ballots, Democrats 357,165 and independent and third-party voters 164,796.
Mail-in voters don’t have to stand in line and have the luxury of researching candidates and issues from the comfort of their own home.
If you’d rather vote in person, you can go to any early-voting site in the country where you live. Crowds are less likely on weekdays and definitely more sparse than on Election Day.
If you get a mail-in ballot, but decide to head to the polls for early voting, make sure to bring your blank mail-in ballot to drop off at the polling site.
Early voting will continue from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Nov. 4.
Elections officials expect early-voting lines to get longer on Sunday, Nov. 4, due to last-minute voters and the Souls to the Polls event, where members of black churches head to the polls en masse.
Florida voters have a long roster of races to decide, from governor all the way to the local city commission.
The marquee races are for governor and U.S. Senate, but voters will also choose members of the state Cabinet, legislators, judges and local representatives.
Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is taking on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, in what might be one of the most expensive races in the country.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, and former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, are vying for the governor’s seat.
Voters statewide also will decide the fate of a dozen constitutional amendments. In some cases, they will also vote on referendum items put on the ballot by their county and city.
Universities throughout the state are being added to the list of early-voting sites thanks to a federal court striking down a statewide ban on campus voting.
In Broward, voters can cast ballots at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. In Miami-Dade County, voters can head to Florida International University’s main campus. And Palm Beach County voters now have the option of voting at Florida Atlantic University’s main campus in Boca Raton.
Louis Nemzer, an associate professor of chemistry and physics at Nova Southeastern University, voted Monday morning on campus, where turnout was light.
Nemzer, 36, of Hollywood, said he’s been encouraging his students to take advantage of the earlyvoting site and its 40 voting machines.
“I’m a millennial,” he said. “We have a reputation for not being engaged. I think we need to change that perception.”
Nemzer said he plans to tell his students that if they don’t vote, they lose the right to kvetch.
“I’m going to tell my students, ‘If you guys don’t vote, please don’t complain to me over the next two years.’”
Over at the library in Hollywood, retiree Robert Siedlecki was ready to go, with no line in sight.
“I’ve got my notes in my pocket,” Siedlecki said. “I don’t want to hold the line up.”
Siedlecki, 76, said he planned to vote yes on Amendment 13, which would ban greyhound racing statewide. He also favors Amendment 9, which bars offshore oil and gas drilling in Florida waters.
Charles Mead, a Boca Raton attorney who described himself as a passionate liberal Democrat, cast his ballot Monday morning at the downtown library.
“I want to vote blue to put a check on Trump,”
Mead said.
“I love Gillum,” Mead said of his support for the Democrat in the governor’s race. “He’s for universal health care. That’s a big issue for me.”
Boynton Beach voter Marc Wharton was one of the few who took advantage of a new early-voting site at FAU’s campus in Boca Raton.
Wharton, FAU’s assistant director for test preparation, said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“I literally work in the building across the street,” he said. “I love the fact that students don’t have to go far to vote.”
But will they? “History would say no,” he said. “My optimism would say yes.”
Charles Zelden, a professor of history and political science at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, noted that the voting sites on college campuses are not just for students, but for everyone.
“Anyone in Broward County can come here, park for free and vote,” he said. But placing an earlyvoting site on campus should increase voter turnout among young voters, he said.
“The key is to get those young voters to vote once,” Zelden said. “If they vote once, they’re more likely to vote twice. Hopefully, peer pressure will get them to vote.”