Early voting boom: Nearly two-thirds of Palm Beach County has voted

Republicans shy away from mail-in ballots while Democrats split between in-person voting and vote-by-mail.

As we enter old-school Election Day in Palm Beach County, about two-thirds of registered voters from both major parties have cast ballots.

While Democrats in Palm Beach County split their votes evenly between mail-in ballots and those cast at early voting sites, Republicans leaned heavily toward in-person early voting. Nearly half cast ballots at early voting sites while just a fifth voted by mail,  county election data show.

• Palm Beach County’s registration breakdown is 37% Democratic, 32.2% Republican and 30.8% no party or minor party. Registration rose by more than 27,000 since the August primary, to 896,037.

Election conspiracy theorists note: If the county records more than 900,000 votes, something is wrong.

Statewide, nearly six in 10 registered voters had cast their ballot by Monday morning, the Florida Division of Elections website shows. Florida has 13.95 million registered voters.

• Nearly 40 percent are Republicans and 32 percent are Democrats.

While more than 60 percent of all Republicans statewide (64%) and Democrats (61%) had voted by Monday, just one-fifth of non-major party voters had cast a ballot.

In Palm Beach County, about half of those non-major party voters turned out; one-third at early voting sites and one-fifth by mail.

The polls will be open from 7 am to 7 pm today. How people voted won’t be available until polls close. Results will be published on the supervisor of elections website here.

Why it matters: Aside from the hotly contested presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, voters will select a U.S. senator, U.S. House members, state legislators, county commissioners, state attorney, sheriff, election supervisor, school board members, judges and decide six amendments to the state constitution, including legalization of marijuana and access to abortion. 

• Voters also will be asked to approve a half-cent sales tax for Palm Beach County schools.

Voters braved long lines at many of the county’s 26 early voting sites to cast 344,000 votes since early voting began Oct. 21.

The sites with the most votes recorded as of Monday morning:

• Lantana Road Branch Library, 22,201.
• Wellington Branch Library, 21,735.
• Palm Beach Gardens Branch Library, 20,176.

Drawing the highest percentage of Democrats:

• Belle Glade Library, 62.3%.
• Loula York Branch Library in Pahokee, 62.2%.
• Wells Recreation Community Center in Riviera Beach, 62.1%.

Drawing the highest percentage of Republicans:

• Tequesta Council Chambers, 57.3%.
• Jupiter Community Center, 55.1%.
• West Jupiter Community Center, 51.8%.

Three locations in or around Boca Raton drew the heaviest percentage of non-major party voters, at about a third each. They were the Glades Road Branch Library, Sugar Sand Park Community Center and the Spanish River Library.