DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Day one of early voting in South Florida is underway.
Locations in Miami-Dade and Broward County opened to the public to voice their choice early Monday.
“We had a very smooth start this morning,” said Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, Christina White. “Voters are turning out. We have about 2,000 people who have already voted this morning. We’re looking towards a very good turnout overall.”
Registered voters can go to any of the 28 sites throughout the counties, between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., until Nov. 6 to cast their ballots, whereas they must go to their assigned precinct on Election Day.
Ahead of the November elections, officials said they will ensure the next two weeks of early voting runs efficiently.
On Sunday, South Florida elections officials made final preps ahead of the early voting season.
Testing the preparations consisted of opening the machines, transmitting and counting the results, as well as inserting the ballots.
“Heading for an election starts many months in advance, sometimes up to a year in advance because we have a lot of new technology that we embed into the process,” said White. “Our poll workers have been trained, our equipment has been tested.”
Voting departments across the country were scrutinized after the 2020 election when former president Donald Trump made controversial claims the election was rigged.
He pointed fingers at the vote-by-mail methods, which were popular during the pandemic, claiming they were not counted properly.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis created an Office of Elections Crimes and Security to review fraud allegations.
This year, the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections said more than 1,400 people in Miami-Dade have signed up to be poll watchers to go out and watch the procedures at the precincts.
One candidate stopped by North Miami Library to make sure everyone follows the regulations of the voting procedure.
“[I’m here to make sure people are] abiding by the rules of the signs giving you the threshold where you can’t campaign and just let the people see our presence to know that we’re here and appreciative of their vote,” said Mark St. Vil, who is running for North Miami Beach City Commissioner.
To find early voting locations in Miami-Dade County, click here. For Broward County, click here.
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