In test for November, Florida primary going smoothly

TALLAHASSEE – With an unprecedented 2.7 million Floridians already having cast ballots either early or by mail, the state’s top elections officials said Tuesday that primary voting was moving ahead with no major glitches.

Secretary of State Laurel Lee said that her office had contacted Florida’s 67 election supervisors who reported no serious problems with in-person voting at polling places, which are set to remain open until 7 p.m. CDT.

“Polling locations are open, prepared and equipped for voters,” Lee said.

Amid the pandemic, personal protective equipment, hand-sanitizer and regular cleaning of the voting locations was a priority for the state and county supervisors, she said.

While a record number of mail-in ballots have been submitted by voters this year – 2.2 million so far – it was difficult to gauge whether Tuesday’s primary vote would top the 24% turnout reached in 2016, the last presidential election year.

Still, the 2.2 million mail-in votes already received are 1 million more than cast by that method four years ago.

With the November election turnout likely to at least reach the 75% turnout of 2016  – and mail-in voting certain to be used more than in previous years -- Lee said that Tuesday’s primary contests were a good test for supervisors and her department.

“Today is an excellent opportunity for us as a state and local level to put into place all the plans we’ve been developing these last couple of months to ensure that we’re abiding by all health and safety protocols necessary at polling locations,” Lee said.

While President  Donald Trump and his allies have been ridiculing mail-in voting as a fraud risk, without any evidence, Gov. Ron DeSantis separated himself, somewhat, from the White House in June by signing an executive order giving supervisors more time to count mail-in ballots in advance of election day.

With counting already underway, Lee said, “that process is going very smoothly, and going very well.”