It’s election season in South Florida, with in-person early voting starting for the primary elections.
Voters on Monday started showing up at dozens of locations across Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, and Broward’s early voting soon will follow, starting this Saturday.
“It’s not a huge turnout,” Wendy Sartory Link, Palm Beach’s supervisor of elections, said Monday. “We’d love to have more voters.”
Still, “it’s going well,” she said.
By Monday late afternoon in Palm Beach County, more than 1,400 voters cast ballots at early-voting stations. By Monday, almost 72,000 ballots also were received by mail. In Miami-Dade County, more than 2,000 voters had cast a ballot with in-person early voting. Nearly 71,000 mailed ballots had been turned in by late Monday.
On Aug. 23, the actual Election Day, voters must report to their assigned precincts in their last chance to vote.
Here’s what you need to know for early voting.
Palm Beach County
In Palm Beach County, there are 21 locations to cast a ballot before Election Day. Early voting is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., through Aug. 21.
School Board seats are open in Palm Beach County, which includes many newcomers. Also in Palm Beach County, one commission seat will go to voters during the primary. Judgeships also are on the ballot.
Broward
In Broward, early voting is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday through Aug. 21. There are 23 early voting locations throughout the county, the majority of them stationed at public libraries.
There are 22 candidates vying for six available seats for Broward’s School Board. Three Broward County commission seats are also up for grabs. And in Broward, there is a school property tax increase referendum on the ballot.
Miami-Dade
Early voting in Miami-Dade County has 23 locations. Through Aug. 12, the hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, the hours will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then from Aug. 15 through Aug. 19, the hours will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The last stretch, Aug. 20 and Aug. 21, will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The elections office website also shows current wait times for voters.
How to send in those mail ballots
Polling places will be unable to accept vote-by-mail ballots on Election Day. But if you don’t get them in the mail on time, you can still vote in person on Election Day.
Mail-ballot voters in Palm Beach County may drop off their signed and sealed vote-by-mail ballots in person at any of the Supervisor of Elections’ four office locations during operating hours, or at any early voting location during early voting hours.
Broward voters who want to avoid the mail can take their mail ballots to early voting sites to drop off their ballots in supervised ballot boxes at these two locations: the elections office in downtown Fort Lauderdale, 115 S. Andrews Ave. in Room #102, or the Voter Equipment Center, 1501 NW 40 Ave., at the Lauderhill mall.
The office had also been permitting mail-in ballot boxes at six elections branch offices but stopped that practice Friday after a letter of intent to sue was filed last week by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, said elections supervisor Joe Scott. They alleged those offices weren’t permanent and shouldn’t be allowed to accept the ballots, Scott said.
The agency recently was the subject of an investigation regarding the drop boxes: The state’s new Office of Election Crimes and Security found that a drop box indeed was properly monitored and an employee was sitting nearby, despite a complaint that it might not have been supervised, as is required.
For information
Visit Browardvotes.gov for the list of early voting sites for Broward County.
In Palm Beach County, visit VotePalmBeach.gov for early voting locations, directions, and wait times. In addition, mail ballot voters may drop off a signed and sealed vote-by-mail ballot in person at any of the four office locations during operating hours or at any early voting location during scheduled hours.
Your reminder
Don’t forget: For those voting early, bring a valid photo and signature ID.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash