After an early rush on Tuesday, voting had slowed to a steady pace by mid-afternoon at most South Florida polling sites, with few glitches and no massive lines reported.
By EVAN S. BENN AND JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA
Miami Herald
South Floridians are likely to turn out in droves Tuesday to choose a new president, and if lines at the polls are tolerable, they have early voters to thank.
About one of every four registered voters in Miami-Dade, Broward and statewide cast their ballots during the two-week early voting period that ended Sunday. That should help keep lines at a minimum despite an expected 80 percent turnout.
”I think that is going to help alleviate the lines,” said Marie Bertot, a Miami-Dade County spokeswoman.
Another help: Voters will be spread between 1,100 different polling places in Miami-Dade and Broward, making lines faster than at the 37 locations that hosted early voting.
Polls are expected to open at 7 a.m. and lines will be cut off at 7 p.m., but anyone in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. At many polling sites, people were already lined up by 6 a.m., waiting in lawn chairs and on blankets.
Aside from some sprinkles and early fog, the Election Day forecast is mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 80s and a light breeze.
It will be the state’s first big test of new optical-scan voting machines, which election officials promise will better serve voters than ATM-like touch-screens or butterfly ballots.
After all, it was Florida’s paper ballots and hanging chads in 2000 that left the country waiting 37 days for its next president-elect.
The state’s 27 electoral votes are again considered critical to the outcome of the too-close-to-call presidential race. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have spent significant time the past two weeks pushing for last-minute votes with their running mates in the Sunshine State.
South Florida voters also will decide Tuesday who will represent them in Congress, on the state’s Supreme Court and in municipal government. Broward voters will choose a sheriff, and there are several state constitutional and local charter amendments on the ballot.
All of those races and amendments make for a beefy ballot, so being prepared is the best way to avoid a longer poll experience than necessary.
”Voters need to take the responsibility of looking at their sample ballot, checking and seeing how they are going to vote and looking at the amendments,” said Evelyn Hale, a Broward elections spokeswoman. “Come prepared.”
Thanks to early voting, many won’t have to come at all.
About 2.6 million people in Florida voted early, about 23 percent of the state’s 11.2 million registered voters. Another 1.5 million Floridians voted absentee.
About 580,000 people cast early ballots in Miami-Dade and Broward, about 25 percent of all voters. Absentee votes raised the pre-Election Day turnout totals to close to 40 percent, election workers said.
”There will be lower demand on poll workers Tuesday,” Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Lester Sola said.
The past two presidential elections have brought 73 percent and 74 percent turnout in Miami-Dade and similar turnouts in Broward.
If this election brings 80 percent turnout as expected, about one million people could be lining up to vote at one of the 1,100 polling places in Miami-Dade and Broward. It’s not necessary to bring a voter ID card, but a driver’s license or some form of photo identification with a signature helps the process go smoother.
Election supervisors said they hope to have absentee ballots tallied and posted on their websites by 7:15 p.m.; early voting totals should be posted by 7:30 p.m.; total votes will roll in sometime after that.
Said Miami-Dade election spokeswoman Christina White: “I think we’ll be looking good on Election Day.”
Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.