Lee County voting to date. (Chart: Lee County Supervisor of Elections)
Aug. 17, 2020 by David Silverberg
Tomorrow marks the last day to cast ballots for the Primary Election in Florida and the final count of ballots cast so far.
While very heavy mail-in voting by voters of all affiliations may have already decided the various contests, in tight races the last few votes cast tomorrow may make the difference between victory and defeat for some candidates.
Despite deliberate slowdowns in mail delivery engineered by US Postmaster Louis DeJoy and President Donald Trump, mail-in voting proved very popular in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting clearly have not deterred Southwest Florida voters of any party affiliation.
In Lee County, as of this writing, 24.6 percent of 468,141 eligible voters have cast ballots.
Of those, the vast majority of 38,624 Democrats voted by mail (36,387) and only 2,240 cast ballots in person in early voting.
Of 60,980 Lee County Republicans who voted, 52,714 voted by mail and 8,261 voted early in person.
Among Lee County non-party affiliates, 14,065 voted by mail and 559 voted in person. Some 571 other voters voted by mail and 21 in person.
Collier County voting to date. (Chart: Collier County Supervisor of Elections)
In Collier County, 27.43 percent of 217,278 voters (59,594) have cast ballots.
Of these, of the 16,457 Democrats who cast ballots, the vast majority (15,323) did so by mail and only 1,132 voted early in person.
Of the 34,971 Collier County Republicans who voted, 28,838 voted by mail and 6,131 in early in-person voting.
Among non-party affiliated voters, 7,004 voted by mail and 468 voted in person. Some 281 other voters voted by mail and 22 voted in person.
Polls are open in person tomorrow from 7 am to 7 pm. In Collier County, vote-by-mail ballots must be returned to the Supervisor of Elections office at 3750 Enterprise Avenue, Naples FL 34104 by 7 p.m. Postage is not required for ballots that are dropped off.
Liberty lives in light
© 2020 by David Silverberg