Reply #8: Florida: Heavy early/absentee voting may indicate turnout eclipsing 66% record of 1994

[seafan]

Early vote turnout strong on last day; '10 may set record, Gainesville Sun, October 30, 2010

Early and absentee voting numbers for Alachua County are both ahead of the 2006 midterm election.

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A Florida Department of State spokeswoman said Friday that robust early and absentee voting could indicate a record midterm turnout, eclipsing the 66 percent turnout of 1994.

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Florida Early Voting Setting Records , WJHG, Panama City, FL, October 29, 2010

Early voting is setting records this year. As of Friday, more than 800 thousand early voters had cast a ballot. The number is almost double the number of people who early voted the last time a governor’s race was on the ballot.

Early voting began in 2004 with a whimper. Two years later, 379 thousand people voted early. This year, the number is already double 2006.

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In 2008, long lines forced Governor Charlie Crist to extend early voting hours. In the end, more people ended up voting early or by absentee in 2008 than voted on Election Day. Jennifer Davis remembers it well. “In 2008 we saw more people vote before Election Day through absentee and early voting than we saw on Election Day”

Reporter: “Do you expect that to continue?”

Davis: “We actually saw it in the primary and we expect that trend to continue”.

Voter turnout in Non presidential years averages between 40 and 55 percent. In Presidential years, the number jumps to 70 percent.

Heavy early voting may boost Fla. midterm turnout, Miami Herald, October 29, 2010

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Heavy early and absentee voting may signal a record or near-record turnout for a midterm election in Florida, where the ballot features open races for the U.S. Senate, governor and all three Cabinet positions, state officials said Friday.

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The early vote count through Thursday was 774,911, which is more than double the 397,000 early ballots cast in the last midterm election in 2006, Davis said.

And that number doesn't include the last three days of early balloting, which ends Saturday in some counties and Sunday in others.

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Just passing the word.