MIAMI, Fla. – In both Broward and Miami-Dade counties, early voters who headed out to the polls said the process went smoothly. With safety during a pandemic also being a concern, they also gave a thumbs up for COVID-19 precautions that were in place.
The weekend weather on the other hand could make things a little more difficult for voters.
Sunday morning, flooding was apparent outside the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Robert McKenzie arrived early to the polling location to find parts of the parking lot under water. He told Local 10 News' Parker Branton there have been a couple of rough days where the parking lot looked like a pond.
“I’ve been out here at the African American library every day,” he said. “The average car would clunk out in this parking lot and to me, this is something that would deter a voter.”
At a voting site in Westchester on Saturday morning, a first-time voter said she was prepared for the process to take much longer.
“We just went in and it was really fast. We just showed identification and that’s it,” she said.
In Broward County, we asked voters casting their ballots at the African American Research Library in Fort Lauderdale why they chose to vote early in person rather than mail in their ballot. Marsha Ellson said she had a mail-in ballot, but brought it to the voting location and gave it back.
“I don’t know what’s going on with the United States Postal Service. I don’t trust it. I wanted my vote to count on that day,” Ellson said.
Broward early voters also said the process was faster than they expected.
Ellson said she waited in line about 10 minutes. "But it was processed so very quickly. They were organized.”
Voters also said they felt safe as they exercised their right to cast their ballot amid a pandemic.
“Everyone practiced social distancing,” voter Bobby DuBose said.
Ellson agreed that COVID-19 precautions were adhered to with other voters waiting in line and inside the polling location.
“Everyone was wearing a mask. No one had any issues with wearing a mask. They had all of the safety precautions in place. They had pens that are not reusable. You couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said.
Polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Nov. 1. However, in Monroe County, polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There are 22 early polling locations in Broward County, 33 in Miami-Dade County, and 5 in Monroe County.
>Find an early voting election location in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
>GET ELECTION READY: For complete information and resources, visit Local 10′s 2020 Voter Guide.
>COVID-19 REGULATIONS: Elections Supervisor tells voters what to expect.
(See the statistics of voting in Florida below.)