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Early, Absentee Voters Near 117 Thousand In Dade Election

DORAL (CBS4) – On Tuesday Miami-Dade voters who have not cast their ballots already will have their last chance to pick who they would like to see as the county's next mayor.

Early Voting started June 18th and ended Saturday at 7 p.m.   Some locations reported fewer than 100 voters a day; just under half of the locations reported under 1,000 voters each over six days of early voting.   The Miami-Dade Elections Department said a total of 36,691 voters cast their ballots at polling locations in the last week.  Saturday alone 6,928 voters went to the polls.

"This is a very important day," said Maria Santos, who lives in Miami Dade County. "It's the last day and we had to be here."

Additionally, of the 127,271 absentee ballots mailed out, 77,155 had been returned.

As a final push on Saturday, both Miami-Dade mayoral candidates Julio Robaina and Carlos Gimenez urged their supporters to get out and vote.

"Our message of reform, fiscal responsibility and taking this county in a new direction is being heard loud and clear," said Candidate Julio Robaina. "We feel the power of the people who want to take this county in a new direction."

"I feel really good that we've got a good base of support throughout the different communities of Miami-Dade County," said Carlos Gimenez who is one of the candidates vying Miami-Dade County Mayor."

In the May special election that set up the runoff now underway, almost 10,000 more people cast ballots in an early voting period that lasted two weeks. In the recall election that ousted former mayor Carlos Alvarez from office, more than 60,000 people cast early votes over two 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.

Web Extra: News & Views: Miami-Dade Mayoral Debate Pt. 1

Web Extra: News & Views: Miami-Dade Mayoral Debate Pt. 2

Web Extra: News & Views: Miami-Dade Mayoral Debate Pt. 3

Voter will now have until the close of polls Tuesday to return an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots may still be requested from the Miami-Dade Elections Department.

Voters who didn't cast their ballot early at the polls or by 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 children's' summer programs are underway there.

Click Here for a list of locations.

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.

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