Dade Voters Cast Their Ballots In Midterm Election
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Months of contentious campaigns and angry rhetoric all come down to today's General Election in which hundreds of thousands of voters across the nation will go to the polls to make their voices heard if they haven't voted already.
In Miami-Dade, polling stations across the county opened promptly at 7 a.m. They will be open until 7 p.m.
At a polling station in Doral, CBS4's Amber Diaz caught up with voters at the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Station 69.
"I didn't do early voting because I typically vote on Election Day," said Sergio Ruiz. "Those lines were way too long so I'd just rather wait and come out here today."
"Everyone needs to vote, not only is your right, but it's expected for you as citizen," said Evelyn Diaz.
In the last weekend of early voting, long lines formed at polling sites, with some waits near three hours. Voters in North Miami became frustrated when printers failed and ballots for some areas would not print.
Christina White, the county's Supervisor of Elections, said that will not happen on Tuesday.
"On Election Day, we have all of our ballots pre-printed because we send ballots that are specific to that precinct," she said.
By 8:00 a.m., more voters rolled into the fire station, some still studying the 12 amendments on the ballot.
Barbara was one of them
"See I have my little cheat sheet right here, we need to know what's we're voting for," she said.
In addition to the candidate races in the 2018 ballot, Miami-Dade voters have a minimum of 17 questions in this election ranging from concerns about casinos and dog races to a referendum that would generate about 232-million dollars a year for pay raises and security at Miami-Dade public schools.
"So reviewing your ballot for the very first time in the voting booth is not a good idea. Preparedness is really important in this election both from the voter education standpoint but also to expedite your experience at the polls," explained White.
Many voters say it doesn't matter how long they'd have to wait because it's all worth having their voices heard.
"Numbers matter and my vote matters," said one voter.
"I think when people go online and complain about things on social media we're all a little tired of that so I just go to the voting booth and vote," said another.
At the Florida International University South campus, NexGen Florida bused students from the school to their precincts for free.
"NextGen America is the largest youth vote mobilization campaign in the country," sadi regional director Hannah Klein. "And our goal is to get 18-35 year olds to years registered to vote and get out to the polls."
Those who did vote were excited about what they had accomplished.
"I've heard a lot of people from my generation are voting and it's really awesome because usually it's older people but actually these people and these policies are going to affect us just as much," said FIU student Athena Watkins.
"I didn't think I was going to vote it. This made it easier and was an opportunity for us to participate, I feel really good about it," said Bianca Cancio.
If you plan to vote on Tuesday, you will need to go to your precinct polling station and be sure to have a photo ID.
If you aren't sure where to vote, use the links below:
This year's midterm election ballot is lengthy. If you haven't done so already, and plan to vote today, you may want to take a look at it before you head to your polling station.
- CLICK HERE to see a SAMPLE BALLOT in Miami-Dade
- CLICK HERE to see a SAMPLE BALLOT in Broward
- CLICK HERE to see a SAMPLE BALLOT in Monroe
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