Voters Head To The Polls To Cast Ballots In Florida Primary Election
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – South Florida voters who didn't vote early or vote by mail will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the state's Primary Election.
"I am anticipating in-person turnout will be lower than usual, but I am expecting the turnout overall to be a little bit higher than usual, primarily attributable to the local elections, which are hotly contested," said Broward's Supervisor of Elections Peter Antonacci.
Of course, in this pandemic, safety is a top priority for poll workers and voters.
"Our poll workers have been provided with wear face masks, face shields, and gloves. They will be wiping down all the common touchpoints throughout the day. It's important that our voters know a mask is required to enter the polling locations," said Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White.
Hortensia Perez was one of the first in line at a polling station in Doral.
"Get in, get out, it was easy," she said.
"When you walk in, they're giving you hand sanitizer, all the election volunteers are wearing masks," said Ron Gay.
"It was very clean in there, there were no lines, no crowds," said Perez.
White credits that in part to record mail-in and early voting turnout.
"We mailed out over 460,000 ballots to our voters and about 260,000 have already come in. So those are record numbers for a primary. And in terms of early, it's about 20-25 percent higher than 2016 and 18," she said.
All voting precincts across South Florida opened Tuesday morning at 7 a.m.
"No issues, we had a very smooth opening at 7 a.m. All of our 860ish precincts opened on time and all of our voters are welcome so come as soon as possible," said White.
WATCH: Joan Murray's Report On Broward Voting
"There are always hiccups in the morning. We had one site this morning that didn't have electricity and we got that fixed. We had another site that was short of supplies but those things are normal when you have a very large county. We have 577 precincts and about 4,500 poll workers, so that's a lot of human beings and technology out there to coordinate. So we had some small hiccups but every thing is running smoothly," said Antonacci.
"It was very, very clean. I felt safe in there. Everybody was wearing their masks, hand sanitizer was everywhere, individual pens are handed out, so a lot of things have gone into making sure everyone stayed safe," said Cathy Phillips who voted in Broward.
- Click here to find your polling place in Miami-Dade.
- Click here to find your polling place in Broward.
- Click here to find your polling place in Monroe.
Polls will be open from until 7 p.m.
Voters must go to their assigned voting location plus bring a valid and current identification that contains a photo and their signature.
Voters who filled out a Vote-By-Mail ballot, but didn't mail it, can still submit it.
MIAMI-DADE:
- Four designated locations on Election Day – A voter may drop off their Vote-By-Mail ballot into a secure drop box until 7 p.m. on Election Day at:
- Miami-Dade Elections Department, 2700 NW 87th Avenue, Miami, FL 33172
- Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1st Street, Outside East Entrance, Miami, FL 33128
- North Dade Regional Library, 2455 NW 183rd Street, Miami Gardens FL 33056
- South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211th Street, Cutler Bay, FL 33189
BROWARD:
There are two secure 24-hour drop boxes accepting ballots until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday
- Voting Equipment Center at the Lauderhill Mall (Rear Entrance) 1501 N.W. 40th Ave. Lauderhill
- Broward County Administration Building 115 South Andrews Ave. (Brickell Avenue Entrance) Fort Lauderdale
To ensure the health and safety of voters and poll workers during in-person voting, amid the coronavirus pandemic, all poll workers are going to be wearing masks, face shields, and disposable gloves. Hand sanitizer will be available to all voters when arriving and leaving voting locations. Social distancing protocols will also be in effect.