More Than 9 Million Florida Voters Cast Ballots Ahead Of General Election
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – More than 100 million Americans, including more than 9 million Floridians, cast their ballots before polls opened Tuesday, shattering records and likely reducing the number of people who will turn out to vote in person this year.
Florida has 14.4 million eligible voters and 29 electoral votes, seen as vital for President Donald Trump's reelection effort.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, 9,069,761 had cast vote-by-mail or early voting ballots as of Tuesday morning.
EARLY VOTING
Democrats still have a strong lead in voting by mail, while Republicans had an edge through early voting.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 4.3 million people have voted early.
Democrats had cast 1,401,458 votes in person while Republicans had cast 1,959,870 votes in person. Unaffiliated voters account for 907,447 and third-party voters cast 63,446.
In Miami-Dade and Broward counties combined, 878,346 people had gone to early voting polls to cast their ballots.
In Miami-Dade, the total is 513,623, which includes 183,666 Democrats, 183,264 Republicans, and 146,693 from unaffiliated or third-party voters.
In Broward County, the total number of early voters is 364,723. Democrats cast 172,899 ballots, Republicans cast 99,908 and 91,916 votes are from unaffiliated or third-party voters.
VOTE-BY-MAIL
There have been more than 4.7 million vote-by-mail ballots returned in Florida.
Statewide, voters had cast 4,737,540 mail-in ballots, with 2,146,654 by Democrats and 1,472,826 Republicans.
Another 1,054,572 ballots had been cast by unaffiliated voters, while third-party voters had cast 63,488,
Overall, there are more than 1.2 million mail ballots requested but not yet returned. Of those, 540-thousand are held by Democrats and more than 402-thousand are with Republicans.
SOUTH FLORIDA
In Miami-Dade and Broward counties combined, 971,429 votes had been cast by mail, while another 300,560 had not been returned yet.
MIAMI-DADE
In Miami-Dade, voters had cast 499,955 mail in ballots, with 228,747 by Democrats and 127,577 by Republicans.
Another 143,631 ballots had been cast by unaffiliated and third-party voters.
Overall, there are more than 169-thousand vote-by mail ballots requested but not returned in Miami-Dade. Of those, more than 71-thousand are held by Democrats and 46-thousand are with Republicans.
BROWARD
In Broward, voters had cast 471,474 mail in ballots, with 274,966 by Democrats and 80,580 by Republicans.
Another 115,928 ballots had been cast by unaffiliated and third-party voters.
Overall, there are more than 130-thousand vote-by mail ballots requested but not yet returned in Broward. Of those, more than 67-thousand are held by Democrats and 27-thousand are with Republicans.
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According to the US Elections Project, as of Tuesday, 100-million Americans had voted early, either by mail or in person This is more than the total number of early votes cast in the 2016 election.
RELATED: CBSMIAMI DIGITAL VOTERS GUIDE
The heavy voting has come as polls show Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in a close race in Florida, one of a handful of critical battleground states across the country.
