Voting by mail surges in S. Florida
More than 300K ballots cast so far
South Florida voters are making their intentions clear about casting their ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. They’re voting by mail — in droves.
Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties have each passed the 100,000 mark in mail ballots cast for the Aug. 18 Democratic and Republican primaries and non-partisan elections for various offices including School Board and judgeships.
What’s remarkable about this year’s numbers is Broward and Palm Beach counties have already well exceeded the total number of vote-by-mail ballots cast in the August elections in both 2016 and 2018 and Miami-Dade County is about to pass its 2016 and 2018 totals.
Broward Supervisor of Elections Peter Antonacci said Wednesday he expects the num
ber of vote-by-mail ballots to increase significantly by the close of voting on Aug. 18.
The increase in mail ballots “is a good sign that voters are aware of their options during a time when many are deciding how they should vote in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and are exercising the option of Vote-By-Mail with confidence,” Antonacci said in a written statement.
■ The numbers: Broward: 99,787 mail ballots reported returned as of Wednesday morning by the state Division of Elections. Antonacci’s office said later Broward has crossed the 100,000 threshold. For the entirety of August 2018 voting, 91,029 mail ballots were cast.
■ Miami-Dade: 115,475, as of Wednesday morning. For the entirety of August 2018 voting, there were 129,639 mail ballots cast.
■ Palm Beach: 107,529, as of Wednesday morning. For the entirety of August 2018 voting, there were 68,883 mail ballots cast.
Like Antonacci, election officials throughout the state have predicted a surge of mail voting with many voters seeing it the safest way to participate in elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
Statewide, 1.22 million people have voted by mail for the August contests. In 2018, 1.35 million voted by mail, which means Florida is on track to exceed the number of mail ballots cast two years ago.
President Donald Trump has been warning, without evidence, that mail voting is subject to widespread fraud. On Tuesday he changed his mind — for Florida only — and said it’s run well in the state.
Early voting
In-person voting at regional early voting centers began Monday in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. So far there hasn’t been a rush.
In Palm Beach County, 3,062 people had voted at one of the county’s 18 early voting sites during the first two days, which works out to an average of 19 voters an hour at each location. The Supervisor of Elections Office website showed all locations had less than 15 minutes waiting on Wednesday afternoon.
In Miami-Dade County, the first two days of early voting attracted 7,078 people to the polls, which works out to 38 people an hour at each of the 23 early voting locations.
For early voting, someone is allowed to go to any location in the county in which they’re registered. On Election Day, people must vote in their neighborhood polling locations.
Broward begins early voting on Saturday. It ends in all three counties on Aug. 16.
Deadlines
People who want to vote by mail for the Aug. 18 primaries and non-partisan elections have an Aug. 8 deadline to request a ballot.
Broward County: online at browardsoe.org or call 954-357-7050.
Miami-Dade County: online at miamidade.gov/elections or call 305-499-8683.
Palm Beach County: online at pbcelections.org or call 561-656-6200.