JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two weeks of early voting ended Sunday, with nearly 60,000 Jacksonville residents casting ballots. More than 46,500 mail-in votes have been received with verified signatures. That's a 19.2 percent turnout before the polls open Tuesday.
Supervisor of Elections Jerry Hollands is hopeful voting on Tuesday will bring the turnout well past the 33.7 percent turnout for the March primary.
A few people were waiting outside when the downtown elections office opened at 8 a.m. Sunday.
"I just wanted to vote and do the right thing before the election starts Tuesday. It's going to be very busy," said Joe Poole. "I travel a lot, so early voting is very convenient for me."
Voters said that despite previous low turnout from voters, they are hopeful that it will be much higher for this election, showing that people are taking interest in what is going on in the community.
"It's very important that we speak up and elect our people.," said Poole.
"The people don't understand, that's the only way they can voice their opinion. By voting for the candidate that they feel we do the things that they desire to happen in the community," said A.D. Meeks.
The candidates in all of the races have made their pitches to voters, telling people why they think they deserve to be the person that gets elected. Months and months of campaigning and preparation will end Tuesday.
"I think both sides were fairly made and I knew who I wanted to vote for," said Poole.
"It's just kind of disheartening all of the negative that they are saying about each other, when they should be speaking positively bringing the city together," said Meeks.
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