Early Voting Ends in Florida With 4.96 Million Ballots Already Cast; Lee County Nears Its Whole 2022 Early Total
Florida closed its early-voting window Saturday with nearly 5 million ballots returned — and Lee County's 210,874 ballots through Friday alone equal 99 percent of the county's entire 2022 early vote.
Early voting is over in Lee County, and the turnout was heavy. Florida voters returned 4,956,134 ballots through Saturday, October 31 — 229,641 of them on the final day alone — a total 9 percent ahead of the same point in 2022, according to the statewide tally compiled from Florida Division of Elections data with the newest count via civicAPI.
Lee County's share was striking on its own: 210,874 ballots through October 30, equal to 99 percent of the county's whole 2022 early vote, with ballots from registered Republicans leading registered Democrats by 24.3 points in the county. Statewide, registered Republicans cast 2,016,179 ballots to registered Democrats' 1,873,536, with 1,066,419 from unaffiliated and other voters; 62 percent of Florida's ballots were cast in person and 38 percent returned by mail. Registration is not a vote — ballots stay sealed until they are counted.
What remains is Election Day. Lee County's 12 early-voting sites, which ran 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from October 19 through Saturday, are closed; on Tuesday, November 3, voters go to their assigned precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A mail ballot still in hand must reach the Lee County Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Election Day to count.
