Parties at the polls: Lee voters are invited
Early Voting has kept polling places steady so far and, with Parties at the Polls taking place Saturday, the hope is more voters will come out.
League of Women Voter’s of Lee County President Clara Ann Graham said the Parties at the Polls is a get out and vote initiative, Vote Together, that is being sponsored all around the United States. They are celebrating the fact that voting is Democracy in Action.
“We will be there starting at 10 a.m. (Saturday, Oct. 27) at Cape Coral (1039 SE 9th Ave.), Fort Myers (13180 S. Cleveland Ave.) and Bonita Springs (25987 S. Tamiami Trail No. 105) – all the Lee County Election Centers. We will be handing out bags that says ‘Voting is People Power’ with goodies inside,” she said. “We have volunteers coming and going all day.”
The Fort Myers location will include Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Southwestern State College students.
“We chose the 27th because it’s halfway through Early Voting and people can prepare for Election Day. We will have literature about the 12 amendments at our tent,” Graham said. “We are encouraging people to get out and vote and make their voices heard.”
She encourages those who are looking for more information about candidates and judges running for office, as well as the Constitutional Amendments, to search “vote411” online and put in their local address and then click the green bar. Voters can click on candidates and read their bios and questions they have answered, as well as background information about judges.
As of Thursday afternoon, Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle said early voting is going “awesome.”
“Every polling place is steady. I am expecting our turnout to be over 70 percent, close to 80 percent. We are almost at 27 percent right now,” he said. “This is our fourth day of voting and we’ve had that many people vote, that is pretty good. There is still another nine days and two Saturdays. That is huge.”
Early voting continues until Nov. 3 at 10 locations in Lee County. Sites include the Cape Coral Elections Office, 1039 SE 9th Avenue; Cape Coral Lee County Library, 921 S.W. 39th Terrace; Northwest Regional Library, 519 Chiquita Boulevard, North; North Fort Myers Recreation Center, 2000 N. Recreation Parkway and the Lee County Elections Center at 13180 S. Cleveland Ave.
The sites are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
In addition, more than 100,00 mail-in ballots have been returned.
“I am expecting to get probably 126,000 to 130,000 ballots back. That is far beyond last midterm election,” he said of the 103,000 ballots they received in 2014. “We are surpassing 2014. We are close to the 2016 presidential election of 156,000. We are the highest in the state for ballots to be returned so far.”
The deadline for mail-in ballot requests is Oct. 31. Doyle said, however if an individual requests one that late there is a good possibility they may not receive it depending on the area they live.
If the voter has not mailed in their ballot within seven to 10 days of Election Day, they should drop it off at Cape Coral, 1039 SE 9th Ave. and Bonita Springs Election Office 25987 S. Tamiami Trail No. 105, by 3 p.m. Election Day, Nov. 6.
It can also be dropped off at the Lee County Elections Center, 13180 S. Cleveland Ave. until 5 p.m., or the main office at 2480 Thompson Street in Fort Myers until 7 p.m. Election Day.