Central Florida Counties See Upswing in Absentee Voting
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
By: Nicole Creston

Oct 23, 2012 | WMFE - Early voting in Florida for the November 6th election hasn't started yet, but some Central Florida counties are already reporting higher-than-usual turnout...in the form of absentee ballots.

The lobby at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office is bustling with people filling out ballots in voting booths and handing them to elections officials. Early voting doesn’t start until October 27^th due to new state laws shortening the early voting period, but several hundred voters are showing up each day to request and cast absentee ballots, says Customer Service Manager Susan Scatliffe. She says absentee voting figures have outstripped the totals from this time in 2008.

“I think why it’s so early in the game is because the ballot is so long this time – three ballots, two-sided, with the amendments and the questions,” says Scatliffe. “So people are trying to get it done early instead of waiting on Election Day to go actually at their polling place. It’s better for them to take their time, because it’s longer and it’s going to take longer.”

Other parts of Central Florida are seeing an upswing in absentee voting, as well. In Brevard County, elections officials are reporting a record-breaking number of absentee ballots, and Volusia County officials say residents have requested over 10,000 more absentee ballots than they did in the last presidential election.