ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County broke a record for early voting and there are still four more days to hit the polls before Election Day.
So far, more than 153,000 people have showed up to cast a ballot.
WFTV political analyst Maria Padilla said next Tuesday will probably be a late night in Florida and the numbers will likely be close.
After a brief slow down over the weekend, the line to vote early was back out the door at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office, and Wednesday was a record-setting day.
“Just before noontime, we probably surpassed the highest total we’ve ever done,” said Orange County supervisor of elections Bill Cowles.
The previous record for early voting was about 145,000 in 2008.
This year, there are more registered voters and more days to vote early.
“I think a lot of people are saying, ‘If I vote, I’m over it. I’m done.’ So they’re getting out and voting ahead of time.’”
Both sides are crunching the numbers.
Statewide, Republicans still lead in vote by mail.
Democrats have the edge in early voting.
Combine the two and Republicans have a slight advantage.
By this time in the 2012 election, Democrats had the overall lead.
“I am seeing that the Republicans are a little more ahead when you look at it county-by-county in Florida,” Padilla said.
She predicts the race will be almost as close to the 2000 election, without the hanging chads.
“It’s hard to say because nobody really takes Florida in a landslide anymore. That has not happened in over two decades,” said Padilla.
Padilla said President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Orlando is likely in response to turnout numbers showing Hillary Clinton isn’t doing as well as he did with black voters, and Donald Trump’s frequent rallies show he needs the state to win the White House.
The big wildcard is no-party voters.
More than 800,000 in that category have already cast a ballot, and they will play a key role in decided the outcome.
Cox Media Group
