TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Nearly 40 percent of Floridians eligible to vote in Tuesday’s mid-term election have already cast their ballots.
More than five million people had already voted as of Monday morning, according to the state Division of Elections. More Republicans have returned vote-by-mail ballots, while Democrats have turned out in higher numbers to early voting sites.
Democrats hold an overall advantage over the GOP in pre-Election Day voting of about 25,000 votes, or one half of one percent of all votes cast so far.
Florida State University Political Science Professor Carol Weissert said high profile and close races for US Senate and the governor’s office led many people to make their minds up early in the process.
“This has been a very competitive race at the top of the ticket, for both Republicans and Democrats," said Weissert. "There’s been a lot of attention on the campaign. It makes sense that there is more early voting and absentee voting.”
So far, 1.8 million more Floridians have voted ahead of Election Day this year than did during the 2014 midterm election, when the overall turnout was just 51 percent.
Early voting sites remain open Monday in six Panhandle counties that were hardest-hit by Hurricane Michael.
Florida has nearly 13.3 million total voters, whose ballots will include statewide races for US Senate, governor, and three cabinet positions, as well as 12 proposed constitutional amendments and a host of Congressional, legislative and local races.
