Republican voters build big edge as Floridians cast ballots
POMPANO BEACH - Early in-person voting ends this weekend in South Florida and it's expected it will be busy at early voting sites in Broward and Miami Dade.
Broward has had a strong turnout so far, according to Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott.
With just four days until Election Day, Carlo Denicola was voting early at the Emma Lou Olsen Center in Pompano Beach.
"Before the rush Tuesday," he said.
Denicola says he is voting Republican. Turnout among Republicans has been brisk in both Broward and Miami Dade.
Over the last five years, the gap has been narrowing between the number of Democratic and Republican registered voters throughout the state.
According to the Florida Department of Elections in 2022, there are now 5.2 million registered Republicans and 4.9 million registered Democrats statewide.
In Broward, the number of people voting up to this point is more than four years ago during the last midterm election.
Scott says the number of people voting by mail is up dramatically.
Over 314,000 people have voted in person and by mail in Broward so far.
Whereas this time four years ago, the number was a little more than 311,000.
"It's 25 percent of eligible voters and I'm happy," said Scott.
In Miami-Dade County, it's not as strong.
Right now, in-person and mail-in ballots stands at 155,693.
Four years ago, at this time, it was 196,466 casting votes.
"It's a little slow, but we expect a surge," said Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White.
Republicans hold a more than 250,000-voter advantage over Democrats in ballots cast through the mail or at early voting sites in next week's elections, according to data posted online Friday by the State Division of Elections.
The data showed that a total of 3,887,262 Floridians had voted by mail or at early voting sites, including 1,696,281 registered Republicans and 1,440,584 registered Democrats.
Unaffiliated voters had cast 696,547 ballots, while third-party voters had cast 53,850. All counties are required to offer early voting through Saturday, with 18 extending early voting to Sunday. Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.