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'Larger Turnout Than We Thought': Broward Elections Supervisor Didn't Expect Long Lines On First Day Of Early Voting

POMPANO BEACH (CBSMiami) – It's day two of early voting across South Florida.

On the first day, rain didn't stop Broward voters from casting their ballots on Monday.

At times, the line of early voters snaked around the block at the Civic Center in Pompano Beach.

Interest in this election is sky high and people want to make sure their vote is counted.

At the African American Research Library in Fort Lauderdale, the line was more than an hour long at times.

"We're divided right now, there's a lot of division. We need to come together and run this country with a purpose," said one voter.

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There were a few minor problems reported at some of the 22 early voting locations in Broward.

With more than 220,000 vote-by-mail ballots already case, the Broward Supervisor of Elections, Peter Antonacci did not expect this type of turnout.

"We've had a larger turnout than we thought. We've had 5,000 people already show up early our 22 early voting sites in Broward. That's a welcome sight. But other than that we've had a few glitches here and there. Few electronic glitches here and there. But things are going pretty smoothly given the number of people that have appeared to vote this morning," said Antonacci.

Those 5,000 people had voted by 9:30 a.m. Two hours later, it was more than 9,000, said Antonacci.

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By 10 p.m. Monday, elections officials reported a total of 28,113 voted in-person.

Four years ago, there was a higher turnout, with over 31,000 residents visiting the polls on day one of early voting.

The elections office said voting by mail wasn't as popular then as it is today.

When it comes to some polling places, there were small hiccup.

"The electronic system that signs you up to vote is not communicating with three machines at three polling places," said Antonacci.

The lines are not deterring voters. The wait was about an hour at the North Regional Library on Monday morning.

Wait times for all early voting sites are posted on county elections department websites.

"The nation is torn apart this year and it needs to be put back together again," said a voter.

"I came in person, just wanted to be sure that the vote counted. I wasn't sure if there would be any trouble or problems with the mail system," explained another voter.

Vote-by-mail ballots can be dropped off at any of the 22 early voting locations in Broward, while they are open.

In addition to the 22 early voting locations in Broward, there are two additional drop boxes located at:

  • Voting Equipment Center at the Lauderhill Mall (Rear Entrance) 1501 N.W. 40th Ave. Lauderhill
  • Broward County Administration Building, 115 South Andrews Ave. (Brickell Avenue Entrance) Fort Lauderdale.

The early voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until November 1. The general election is on November 3.

There is no early voting on Nov. 2, the day before Election Day.

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