JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida may have been the butt of jokes in years past over mishandling its elections, but of 17.5 million ballots cast in the 2020 election across 44 states and DC as of midday Thursday, 2,092,131 of those are in Florida.
That is more than votes received so far in California, Texas or any other large state.
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In most states, the number of ballots received by mail or in early, in-person voting 19 days before Election Day is more than double what it was at the same point four years ago. That put the nation on track to see historically high voter turnout this year due to a competitive presidential race combined with changes to some state laws to allow more mail-in balloting with the coronavirus pandemic still gripping the country.
The numbers of ballots counted come from elections databases in each state. University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald is one of the leaders in pulling that data together and presenting it in an interactive map that makes it easy to not only see the total but drill down to see the states and counties where the votes are coming from and a breakdown by party.
Nationally, 55.8% of the ballots returned are from Democrats, 23.7% are from Republicans and 19.9% are from non-affiliated voters. The Florida mix has Democrat in the lead with 49.8% of ballots received as of midday Thursday, 29.8% from Republicans and 19.2% from NPA voters.
Tap to see an interactive version of this map
Voting by mail has been underway in Florida and Georgia since last month. Early, in-person voting began Monday in Georgia, with long lines reported across the state the first few days. Florida opens early voting next Monday, although some counties don’t open their sites until later in the week.
VOTER’S GUIDE: Races, issues on all the ballots in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia