MIRAMAR, Fla. – Joshua Tracey was outside his voting location at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The Miramar resident was the first to line up to cast his Election Day ballot at City Hall.
“I just feel like it was more important this election — more than any other,” Tracey said.
Officials were expecting about 100,000 more voters at the polls in Broward County on Tuesday. Peter Antonacci, Broward County’s supervisor of elections, said about 70% of voters had already cast a ballot before Election Day.
That has meant shorter lines and what has appeared to be a smooth process.
Lana Linda was also among the early risers in Miramar who voted for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
“Anything is better than Trump, and Biden is for the people. He’s for more equality and Trump is just a different era. He’s been in there four years and I don’t see any improvement,” Linda said.
Keith Schaefer was in the minority among those who woke up early to vote for President Donald Trump in Miramar.
“He brought unemployment down. He’s going to take care of the pandemic and I just can’t see voting for Joe Biden. He’s just not up for the job," Schaefer said.
More than 1.2 million people are registered to vote in Broward County. As of Election Day morning, 830,000 of them had, either, showed up in person already or voted by mail.
So, why did these Tuesday voters wait to vote on Election Day when over 9 million Floridians did it beforehand?
“Procrastination,” Winnie Mertilus said.
Bernie Elise, on the other hand, said he voted in person to make sure his ballot got where it needed to be.
“I’m not going to leave it upon nobody’s hand,” he said. “Take it upon myself to do my own thing.”
Polls close at 7 p.m.