Nearly 5.3 million have voted in Florida during early surge

Nearly 5.3 million Floridians have voted early in the Sunshine State, or nearly 41 percent of all active registered voters.

Numbers released by the state Division of Elections Friday show the number of voters casting ballots early during this year’s presidential election is higher than in 2012. That year nearly 4.8 million Floridians either voted by mail or cast a ballot during early voting.

The voting between Republicans and Democrats is just about even with a gap of less than 2,000 votes separating the two parties. Nearly 1 million voters registered with no party affiliation have also voted.

The see-sawing battle in Florida as compelled Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump to make repeated swings through the state. Clinton is scheduled to visit again this weekend.

Reprinted with the permission of the Associated Press.