Polls have opened across the Sunshine State Tuesday morning as Florida voters will have their say in a Presidential and U.S. Senate race, along with a number of major amendments that will impact people statewide.
The polls in South Florida will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and anyone in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
More than 5.35 million took advantage of early voting, while over 2.83 million had submitted vote-by-mail ballots ahead of the 2024 Election, for a total of 8.18 million or around 60% of the state's registered voters, according to figures released Monday by the Florida Division of Elections.
DECISION 2024
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The figures suggest another large voter turnout in Florida, which had a 77% total turnout for the presidential election in 2020, which was the highest since 1992.
Once considered a pivotal swing state in presidential elections, Florida has proved reliably Republican in recent years. A Democrat hasn’t won the state’s Electoral College votes since 2012, when former President Barack Obama succeeded with a margin of less than one percentage point.
Republican former President Donald Trump has won Florida in both of his campaigns and the state's 30 electoral votes are a cornerstone of his path to top Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and return to the White House.
Trump won the state by a single point in 2016 and by three points in 2020. Republicans appeared to further tighten their grip on the state in 2022, when Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio comfortably won reelection.
Florida voters will also choose on Election Day whether Republican Rick Scott should have another term in the U.S. Senate. Scott, a former governor of Florida, faces a challenge from Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who represented Florida in the U.S. House but lost her reelection bid in 2020.
Further down the ballot are a handful of proposed amendments to Florida’s constitution. Amendment 4 would enshrine abortion rights in the state, while Amendment 3 would legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
In South Florida, voters will be deciding on a number of local races, including sheriff's races in Miami-Dade and Broward, among others.
Registered Democrats had outnumbered registered Republicans in Florida for at least 50 years dating back to the early 1970s. Republicans overtook Democrats in registration after the 2020 election, and that advantage grew to a lead of over 1 million voters as of this year.
