What’s voter turnout like on Election Day so far in South Florida? More than expected
Miami-Dade and Broward counties are both reporting higher-than-expected Election Day turnouts as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Roberto Rodriguez, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Elections Department, said 88,000 people had already cast their in-person vote. The county is expecting a total turnout of somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people.
In Broward County, the turnout was just as strong, with 82,000 votes, even though officials had estimated a total turnout of 100,000.
“Right now the overall turnout is almost 71%,” said Steve Vancore, spokesman for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections. “We’re still picking up ballots at the post office and there’s been a nonstop line at drop boxes for mail-in ballots, so an 80% turnout is within reach.”
Neither county reported any malfunctions or glitches, aside from the occasional dispute between polling centers and campaigners on the location of their signs.
The most common complaint in Broward came from voters and poll workers who said they were being harassed by TV stations, Vancore said.
“It’s a wonderfully boring day in Broward County!” Vancore said.
According to the Miami-Dade Elections Department, 35% of all votes cast Tuesday were Democrats. Republicans cast 31% of votes Tuesday, and independents made up another 32%.
According to the Broward County elections website, a total of 901,376 overall votes in the election had been cast as of noon Tuesday. Democrats accounted for 52% of the votes, Republicans made up 22%, while independent voters comprised 24% of the total votes cast.
In the Florida Keys, voter turnout was at 76% as of noon Tuesday, which is equal to the total number of votes cast there in the 2016 election.
“I can feel the record breaking,” said Monroe County E. Joyce Griffin via email.
Hugging it out
And at precincts where it wasn’t totally packed Tuesday morning, some members on opposite sides of the political spectrum found time to hug out their differences.
Take Anne Smith, a Democratic volunteer, and Marissa Gutierrez, a Republican volunteer, who were both stationed at Calusa Elementary School in West Kendall early Tuesday.
The duo — Smith, who is asking voters to vote for Biden, and Gutierrez, who pleaded that walk-ins should cast their ballots for Trump — stood side by side, and even hugged each other a few times.
“We are all people first,” Smith said. “Yes I would never vote for Trump, but Gutierrez is exercising her right, just like I am.”
Gutierrez said she can’t vote in the election because she’s at the center of an immigration process, and that that’s why she’s asking people to “be my voice.”
“I don’t know much about politics, but he supports the Venezuelan people,” Gutierrez said as she handed out a Republican Party ballot recommendation flier. “We have lots of hope.”
Smith, also an immigrant but from France, said Biden is the only one on the ticket that “treats people like human beings.”
Venezuelan-born voter Maribel Villalobos, who walked in and out of the Calusa precinct in less than 10 minutes, said she voted for Trump after acknowledging his positions on immigration and his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic have been controversial.
“It’s like the relationship status section on Facebook,” Villalobos said. “Complicated and messy.”
Miami Herald staff writers Monique O. Madan and David Goodhue contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 12:18 PM.
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