South Florida encouraged to vote early, not wait until Election Day
MIAMI - Early in-person voting locations have been busy with the 2024 general election less than a week away.
Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White said the lines will get longer by the day as we count down to Election Day.
"We've had 588,000 people vote already in Miami-Dade County," said White on Wednesday as the line at the county's election headquarters moved quickly.
She said those wanting to vote in person should do so sooner rather than later.
"I don't want to have any of our voters wait until Election Day to vote. We're really calling that the last day to vote at this point, you never know what could happen. You know whether it will be the weather, or you get sick or a flat tire. So we're encouraging people to do things as soon as possible. Early voting is always a great option. There are 33 sites for the remaining days, 12 hours a day," said White.
In Miami-Dade and Broward, in-person early voting ends on Sunday. In Monroe, it ends on Saturday.
White said Halloween is a good day because parents are preoccupied with getting their kids ready to go out trick or treating. Yes, costumes are allowed in the polling locations.
"If you're wearing a mask, you will be asked to take it off. Understandably, people will come with the spirit of Halloween, and in fact, some of our workers will probably be wearing some work-appropriate costumes," she said.
White pointed out that for those planning to do a little last-minute campaigning near polling locations there are some rules they need to know.
"The candidates and campaigners have to be 150 feet from the entryway of the polling location. We do have poll deputies stationed outside of all of the locations to make sure that that law is being respected," she said.
Those campaigning can go into a polling location, but only if they are in the active process of voting themselves. Anyone caught being disruptive, even outside of the 150-foot zone, like campaigners who block traffic or are overly aggressive with those walking to or standing in line, will be asked to move on or have law enforcement called on them.