Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
A month out from Election Day, mail ballots are flooding into supervisors of elections offices across the state.
According to data posted on the Florida Division of Elections website, more than 571,000 ballots had made the return trip as of Monday afternoon.
The data shows Democrats leading the way in mail voting, with 306,107 ballots turned in so far. That’s nearly double the 157,978 turned in by Republican voters.
Another 101,192 ballots have come from unaffiliated voters while 6,595 third-party voters have voted by mail.
Palm Beach County currently leads the state in returns with 90,225 ballots received followed by 71,034 in Broward and 64,189 in Hillsborough.
There are still millions more ballots waiting to be turned in — 4.79 million as of Monday’s count.
As in the return data, there are more Democrats who have their mail ballot in hand than voters from any other party.
Currently, about 2.15 million Democrats have received their ballot but have not yet turned it in. The same is true for about 1.52 million Republicans, 1.06 million independents, and 60,616 third-party voters.
More voters than ever are expected to vote by mail this year as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic making in-person voting a risky proposition for some voters.
Florida got a preview of the higher tally during the August primary when 2.32 million voters filled out a mail ballot. By comparison, about 1.28 million voters cast a mail ballot in the 2016 primary election.
The total number of mail ballots sent to voters for this year’s general election — both those pending and those returned — stands at 5.36 million, which is approximately 60% more than the 3.35 million total in the last presidential election.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 709,157 FL residents (+1,406 since Sunday)
— 8,717 Non-FL residents (+9 since Sunday)
Origin:
— 44,775 Travel related
— 261,410 Contact with a confirmed case
— 6,297 Both
— 435,500 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 44,775 in FL
Deaths:
— 14,886 in FL
Evening Reads
“More states are using ballot drop boxes. Why are they so controversial?” via Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight
“‘Do they think … rules for everybody else do not apply to them?’: Chris Wallace slams Trump’s family for refusing masks at debate” via Tim Elfrink of The Washington Post
“White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tests positive for COVID-19” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“The virus is coming from inside the White House” via Olga Khazan and Russell Berman of The Atlantic
“Jeanette Núñez ‘would have felt comfortable’ in SUV with sick Donald Trump” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Survey: Florida voters are mixed on how Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis will impact election” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics
“6 months after coronavirus shutdowns, the shape(s) of the economic crisis” via Elia Koeze of The New York Times
“Trump says he will leave hospital Monday, as White House cases mount” via Andrew Restuccia and Alex Leary of The Wall Street Journal
“A clear-cut Biden win is emerging as a bull case for stocks” via Justina Lee of Bloomberg
“Laid-off Disney World employees find side work and unity in Facebook group” via Gabrielle Russon of the Orlando Sentinel
“Ron DeSantis ranks in Top 10 of Cato Institute’s 2020 gubernatorial spending scores” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Florida Rights Restoration Coalition gives $1.5 million to Hillsborough County to help felons restore voting rights” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics
“In deep red HD 11, it’s the Proud Boys and QAnon versus Barack Obama and Nikki Fried” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“FSU legendary coach Bobby Bowden tests positive for COVID-19, watching out for symptoms” via Jim Henry of the Tallahassee Democrat
“The American dream slips away for immigrant restaurateurs during COVID-19 pandemic” via Phillip Valys of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think the medical personnel would have allowed it if they had felt there was an imminent threat in that car. Yes, I would have felt comfortable.” — Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, on whether she would have ridden in the same car as President Donald Trump on Sunday.
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