Over 100K Early Votes Cast In Miami-Dade Mayor Race
DORAL (CBSMiami) With 4 days remaining to the Miami-Dade special Mayoral runoff, more than 100 thousand people have already made their decision about who will be Miami's next mayor. That's how many have taken part in early voting or returned an absentee ballot, but for those still interested in voting early, time is running out.
Early Voting started June 18th and ends Saturday at 7 p.m. As of Thursday evening, more than 27 thousand people had cast a ballot at one of 20 early voting locations. Some locations are reporting fewer than 100 voters a day, with just under half of the locations reporting under 1 thousand voters each over 6 days of early voting.
In the May special election that set up the runoff now underway, almost 10 thousand more people cast ballots in an early voting period that lasted 2 weeks. In the recall election that ousted former mayor Carlos Alvarez from office, more than 60 thousand people cast early votes over 2 weeks.
Voters in this election have less time because the legislature cut the early voting period, and banned counties from allowing early voting the Sunday before an election.
Tens of thousands of voters also cast early votes with absentee ballots, and according to figures provided by the Miami-Dade Elections department, 75 thousand absentee ballots have already been returned. In the May special election, about 12 fewer thousand ballots had been returned by this point, and about the same had been returned for the recall election.
That means, at least among absentee voters, there appears to be more interest in the runoff election.
Voters have until 7 p.m. Friday, and from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m. Saturday to vote early. After that, they have until the close of polls Tuesday to return an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots may still be requested from the Miami-Dade Elections Department.
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Voters who don't use early voting or an absentee ballot must vote at their own neighborhood polling place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.next Tuesday. Voters at some Miami Beach precincts will find a note when they arrive at their usually polling place, directing them to a new location, as some precincts have been moved because childrens' summer programs are underway there.
You can get complete information about the changes, find out about the candidates, get sample ballots and more by visiting the CBSMiami special elections page, which will also have the fastest results on election day.
