October 29, 2004
Before the polls open on Tuesday, Florida turnout is already 20 percent
(via Florida Politics)
More than 2 million Floridians will have cast their ballots before a single precinct opens at 7 a.m. Tuesday if the early and absentee voting blitz holds its current pace.Posted by Norwood at October 29, 2004 09:13 AMThat is more than a third of all people who voted in the 2000 presidential election and almost 20 percent of the state's 11.4 million registered voters.
"I've never seen anything like it in the 15 years that I've been here," said Sharon L. Harrington, Lee County supervisor of elections. "Just think what it's going to be like on Election Day if it's like this for early voting."
With five days left to vote before Tuesday, about 1.4 million people already have made their choice.
At least 718,000 had taken advantage of Florida's new early-voting system by Wednesday, according to a survey by the Orlando Sentinel of 64 of the state's 67 counties, including the most populated areas. At that pace, almost 1.1 million people will have cast ballots at early-voting sites by the end of Monday.
In addition, about 1.5 million absentee ballots have been mailed to voters in 63 counties, with more than 707,000 already completed and returned. That number could swell to 1.1 million if roughly three-quarters of the absentee ballots mailed out are returned, as election supervisors expect.
About 700,000 people voted absentee in the 2000 election.
