Jim Rosica
More than one million Floridians have voted by mail for the Aug. 30 primary election, state records show.
As of Thursday, the state’s Division of Elections website showed 1,027,347 ballots had been returned to county supervisors of elections.
Republicans still are leading Democrats, 501,852 to 391,770.
Historically, Florida Republicans have had an advantage with vote-by-mail ballots, while the Democrats are stronger with early voting.
But preliminary numbers show registered Republicans are also leading Democrats in early voting — 145,790 to 135,818.
The total of votes-by-mail and early votes, including third-party and no-party registered voters, now stands at 1.33 million ballots cast.
State lawmakers recently changed the name of “absentee” ballots to “vote-by-mail” ballots.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Thursday encouraged “eligible voters who are not voting by mail to exercise their right to vote during early voting.”
State officials are watching a weather system in the Atlantic that could become Hurricane Hermine and pass over Florida by or around Election Day next Tuesday, according to some forecasts.
“Although it is too premature to determine if voters will be impacted by adverse weather conditions, I am in constant contact with Gov. Rick Scott, the Division of Emergency Management, and (local) supervisors of elections,” Detzner said.
“Any updates that have the potential to impact Florida voters will be immediately communicated. In the meantime, visit YourVoteFlorida.com or contact your local supervisor of elections office for more information.”
