More than 1.6 million votes have been cast for the midterm election, with ballots from registered Democrats slightly ahead of those returned by Republicans after three days of in-person early voting. That’s about 11.7 percent of the 13.7 million registered voters in Florida.
From numbers posted Thursday morning by the Division of Elections, registered Democrats have returned nearly 485,000 vote-by-mail ballots to just under 406,000 from Republicans.
Meanwhile, almost 235,000 Republicans have gone to early voting locations, which have been available in more than half of Florida’s 67 counties, compared to 211,000 Democrats.
All 67 counties must make early voting available starting Saturday through Oct. 31.
Democrats have outperformed Republicans in vote-by-mail ballots the past couple of election cycles, while Republicans who hold a 1.5 million advantage in registered voters have more than made up the numbers with early voting.
Voters registered without a political party have cast 212,000 vote-by-mail ballots and about 93,000 ballots in early voting locations.
The prior midterm election in 2022 drew 7.8 million voters, 53.8 percent of those registered.
