How to vote early and safely in Broward

Broward belatedly joins its South Florida neighbors Saturday as early voting begins, giving voters a second option to chart the county’s political future. If you have not already voted by mail, you can now vote early instead — subject to unprecedented safeguards during the pandemic.

Broward is at a pivotal juncture. Voters have the opportunity to overhaul the criminal justice system by nominating candidates for sheriff, state attorney, public defender and clerk of the courts. Democrats also will nominate a supervisor of elections. Never before in Broward’s 105-year history have voters faced so many big county choices at once. It’s in addition to nominating members of Congress, state Legislature, county commission and school board.

For the next nine days, Broward voters can cast ballots at any one of 22 early voting sites in the county. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade began early voting last Monday. In all three counties, early voting will continue through Sunday, Aug. 16.

Early voting marks the transition to in-person voting. That means voters will be in close proximity to strangers and poll workers. Things will be different because of safety precautions required by the coronavirus pandemic. Crowds at early voting sites likely will be smaller than usual because most voters are voting by mail. But not everyone likes voting by mail, and people deserve options.

Early voting is designed to be convenient. There are two weekends of early voting and all 22 locations will stay open until 7 p.m. on weekdays.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, held an informative discussion about election preparations on Facebook Friday with voting officials in Broward and Miami-Dade.

To ensure safety, Supervisor of Elections Pete Antonacci is requiring all election workers, including temporary employees, to be tested for the coronavirus in advance. In a July 8 memo, he urged all poll workers to visit the county health clinic on State Road 84 east of I-95.

”All staff will be tested. No exceptions,” Antonacci wrote, unless employees arrange for private testing at their expense. Two election workers, in Weston and Hollywood, tested positive for the virus in the March 17 presidential primary.

Early voters will be expected to carefully maintain six feet of social distancing from others. The Broward elections website has a four-minute video that shows exactly what early voters can expect.

Speaking of convenient, here’s another new feature: Every early voting site will also have a secure box where you can drop off your completed vote-by-mail ballot, as an alternative to putting it in the mail. The clearly-marked boxes carry the Broward logo and the words “vote by mail ballot dropbox.” There are also 24-hour dropboxes at the county Voting Equipment Center at the rear entrance to the Lauderhill Mall and on the west side of the Broward County Governmental Center in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

As always, early voters should review a sample ballot first. You must also bring an ID with a photo and signature. Be sure to bring a face mask to comply with the county ordinance that requires the use of a mask in public.

Antonacci’s office says any voter who refuses to wear a mask can still vote, but will be offered masks. Unlike MiamiDade, Broward did not set up special outdoor booths for mask-less voters.

Every voter also will be offered a squirt of hand sanitizer and pen, for their use only, to fill in their ballot and then take home.

Here, listed alphabetically, are Broward’s 22 early voting sites:

■ African-American Research Library, 2650 NW 6 St., Fort Lauderdale

■ Broward Health North Conference Room, 201 E. Sample Rd., Deerfield Beach

■ Coral Ridge Mall, North or Northwest Entrance, 3200 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale

■ Davie/Cooper City Branch Library, 4600 SW 82 Ave., Davie

■ E. Pat Larkins Community Center, 520 Martin Luther King Blvd., Pompano Beach

■ Emma Lou Olson Civic Center, 1801 NE 6 St., Pompano Beach

■ Fort Lauderdale Branch Library, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

■ Hallandale Beach Cultural Community Center, 410 SE 3 St., Hallandale Beach

■ Hollywood Branch Library, 2600 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

■ Miramar Branch Library, 2050 Civic

Center Place, Miramar

■ Nob Hill Soccer Club, 10200 Sunset Strip, Sunrise

■ North Regional Library, 1100 Coconut Creek Blvd., Coconut Creek

■ Northwest Regional Library, 3151 University Dr., Coral Springs

■ Nova Southeastern University Alvin Sherman Library, 3301 College Ave., Davie

■ Pine Trails Park Amphitheater, 10555 Trails End, Parkland

■ South Regional Library, 7300 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines

■ Southwest Regional Library, 16835 Sheridan St., Pembroke Pines

■ Supervisor of Elections at Lauderhill Mall, 1519 NW 40 Ave., Lauderhill

■ Tamarac Branch Library, 8701 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac

■ West Regional Library, 8601 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation

■ Weston Branch Library, 4205 Bonaventure Blvd., Weston

■ Women’s Club of Wilton Manors, 500 NE 21 Ct., Wilton Manors

All sites are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. For more information, go to the Broward elections website, browardsoe.org

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.