Florida's Early Vote Is Final: 5,401,055 Ballots, a Republican Edge of 2.5 Points — Half the 2022 Gap
When the last sites closed on Sunday night, Florida's early and mail vote stood at 5,401,055 ballots — 13 percent more than at the same point in 2022, with registered Republicans ahead by 2.5 points of ballots cast against a 6.7-point edge at this point four years ago. Election Day now decides the rest.
Florida's early vote is a finished number: 5,401,055 ballots cast before Election Day, according to the final compilation of state and county reports through Sunday, November 1 — up 241,518 ballots on Sunday alone, as South Florida's sites, among the last in the state still open, closed out the period. Of the total, 3,467,811 ballots were cast in person at early-voting sites and 1,933,244 arrived by mail.
The party split is the number both campaigns will carry into Tuesday. Registered Republicans cast 2,175,027 of the ballots (40.3 percent) and registered Democrats 2,039,175 (37.8 percent) — a Republican edge of 2.5 points in ballots cast, against a 6.7-point Republican edge at the same point in 2022. The overall electorate grew on both sides: total ballots are up 13 percent on 2022 at the same point, but Democratic ballots are up 16 percent on their 2022 pace while Republican ballots are up 5 percent. These are the registrations of the people who voted, not their choices — Florida counts no votes until the polls close on Tuesday — but as a turnout measure, the Democratic side of the ledger plainly ran hotter than four years ago.
The state's own Sunday-morning file, compiled before the final day, had stood at 5,159,537 ballots through Saturday. Sunday's quarter-million additions were concentrated where the sites stayed open latest — South Florida, including Miami-Dade's 28 sites, which closed at 7 p.m. with the county's own final early total at 485,722 ballots, as this desk reported in the closing count.
What remains is Election Day itself: Tuesday, November 3, at assigned precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with mail ballots counting only if they reach the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. The early electorate — 5.4 million Floridians, roughly two of every three expected voters in a typical Florida general election — has spoken in the only way it yet can: by showing up.
