‘It’s important.’ Amid a pandemic, early voting starts in Miami-Dade for primary.

Sandra Portal-Andreu, 40, cast her vote for the Aug. 18 primary at the Coral Gables Branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library System on Monday morning wearing a face mask with the word “vote” printed on the front and her two sons, Julian Portal-Andreu, 11, and Gabo Portal-Andreu, 7, by her side.

Portal-Andreu said she’s always voted in person and she wasn’t going to change that this cycle, despite the high number of coronavirus cases in Miami-Dade County.

“During a pandemic, it’s tough, but I think now more than ever, it’s important,” Portal-Andreu said. “Right now we’re in a place where everything is questionable, uncertain, and I think the most certain thing that I can do is cast my vote, and I make time to make sure that I can do it in person.”

Monday was the first day of early voting across the state, and in Miami-Dade County, nearly two dozen voting centers were open to accommodate voters, kicking off the two-week run-up to the August primary.

The number of people who cast ballots on the first day of early voting this year — in a pandemic, with Miami-Dade County a coronavirus hotspot — exceeded the number who voted on the first day in 2018. About 3,100 residents voted early in Miami-Dade County on Monday out of the approximately 1.49 million registered voters in the county, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections. On the first day of early voting in 2018, approximately 2,800 residents cast their vote.

Mail voting is already underway in Florida and, as of Monday morning, nearly 100,000 Miami-Dade voters had returned mail ballots through the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Elections supervisors believe as much as half of the vote will come through the mail.

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White told the Miami Herald last week that she was not expecting “huge crowds” at the polls. “We typically don’t have them in a primary anyway. When you add in the fact that so many more people are probably voting by mail, that’s an added benefit to voters who are intending to vote in person,” White said.

For those who want to cast their vote in person, poll workers are taking extra precautions to prevent the potential for the spread of coronavirus by wearing face masks and shields, sanitizing common touch points, such as pens, and making sure voters stand six feet apart.

Milton Lazier, 72, and his wife, Brenda Lazier, 71, voted in person at the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens on Monday afternoon. The couple said they vote in person for every primary and general election, and voting this year seemed fairly normal, despite the pandemic. “It’s not that much different,” Milton said. “It didn’t take me that long. It didn’t take my wife that long. So we were like almost in and out.”

The couple said they received mail ballots and had considered casting their vote through the postal service, but when Monday rolled around, they decided to head to the polls. “We were thinking about it because we got our vote-by-mail ballot, but then today was the first day of voting, so we said we’ll go and get it over with,” Milton said.

Carmen Vizcaino, 49, cast her vote in person at the Coral Gables Branch Library location on Monday morning because she felt it was the most direct way to ensure that her voice was heard. “I just want to make sure my vote counts and I think the best way to do it is come here in person,” she said.

Vizcaino said she felt comfortable with the precautions being taken by poll workers. “I thank the volunteers, most of them are elderly, so it’s a big risk for them to interact with people, but the fact that they’re doing it is still important,” Vizcaino said. “But really, [voting was] not that big of a difference than usual except that everyone’s geared up and extra precautions are being taken. But it was fine. It was in and out. I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t early vote this way.”

Early voting also began in Monroe and Palm Beach Counties on Monday and it will begin in Broward County on Aug. 8. Any voter registered in Miami-Dade County can cast their vote at an early voting center.

Portal-Andreu said she brings her two sons with her nearly every time that she votes. “I’ve always been a a pretty active voter...so I think it’s very important, my kids, they come with me every time, we make it a family ordeal,” she said.

And this year was not an exception.

“We’re just taking all the necessary precautions to be safe, to keep distance and just to make sure that we do our civic duty,” Portal-Andreu said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 5:50 PM.