Early in-person voting is officially underway across the Suncoast. Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties opened their polls Monday, ahead of Florida’s mandatory statewide early voting period that begins October 24. Voting runs 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. through October 31, and in these counties you can cast your ballot at any available polling location. The ballot is a full one, with the governor’s race between Byron Donalds and David Jolly, the Senate contest between Ashley Moody and Angie Nixon, plus Attorney General, CFO and Agriculture Commissioner races. Locally, Manatee voters will see school board races, and Sarasota has a District 1 runoff between Jimmy Glover and Heidi Brandt.
The mail numbers tell an interesting story about how the region votes. Sarasota County has mailed 87,370 ballots and already received 36,658 back. Manatee County has sent out 56,636 and received 21,618, with 35,018 ballots still outstanding. Statewide, Florida has 13,672,122 registered voters, including a Republican registration edge over Democrats and a sizable share with no party affiliation.
If you’re voting by mail, put these dates on the fridge: the deadline to request a ballot be mailed is October 22 at 5 p.m., and ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, not just postmarked. Need to check your ballot status or find a polling location? The supervisor of elections websites for Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties have tracking tools and wait-time info. Are you voting early this year, or waiting for Election Day?
