Broward County\u2019s elections supervisor is planning to significantly increase the number of in-person early voting sites in the weeks leading up to the November elections. He\u2019s making the move in response to changes imposed by the state that make voting by mail more difficult, as well as potentially high voter turnout.<\/p>\n
Palm Beach County also is adding locations.<\/p>\n
Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said he hopes to have 30 locations for in-person early voting for the November elections \u2014 which would represent a 43% increase from the 21 his office will operate for the August primary.<\/p>\n
Each site also will operate for more hours and more days in November than in August. For the November general election, each site will be open for 14 days of early voting for 12 hours a day. In August, he plans nine days of early voting for nine hours a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realize that fewer people are going to vote by mail because of the efforts that the state has made to make it harder for people to vote by mail. But we can make it easier for people to vote early, in person, by adding more (locations),\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have even more early voting sites than we\u2019ve ever had before, more communication to make sure that the public is aware that these early voting sites are there and they can vote anywhere in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n
The August primary and nonpartisan elections attract far fewer voters than the November general election, Scott said. \u201cWe want to put more resources toward November,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I can pull back a little bit in August, that makes it easier for me to push more resources to November.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said he expects high voter turnout for the November election, when people will elect a new governor, decide a U.S. Senate race, and pick members of Congress. He is planning for a turnout of 63%.<\/p>\n
That would be more like 2018 \u2014 the last time the governor\u2019s office was open and the race was a hard-fought, close contest \u2014 than\u00a02022, when Gov. Ron DeSantis cruised to reelection. (Term limits prevent DeSantis from running for reelection again this year.)<\/p>\n
In 2022, Broward turnout was 48%; in 2018, it was 60.9%.<\/p>\n
In Palm Beach County, 2022 turnout was 54.4%; in 2018, it was 63.9%. Alison Novoa, director of strategic initiatives at the elections office, didn\u2019t have an estimate for this year. \u201cWe anticipate it will be busy,\u201d she said via email.<\/p>\n
Palm Beach County, which is geographically larger than Broward, has had more early voting sites in the past. Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link is planning 28 sites early voting in August and November, up from 26 sites in 2024, Novoa said.<\/p>\n
In November, each Palm Beach County site will be open for 12 hours a day for 14 days. In August, early voting will operate for 12 hours over nine days, she said. Palm Beach County allows people to make appointments to vote early.<\/p>\n
Scott, first elected to his office in 2020 and reelected to a second term in 2024, outlined his plans in separate appearances in recent days. He presented his proposed budget for the next fiscal year to the Broward County Commission. And he also discussed the rapidly changing laws and challenges to election practices in a more partisan forum, before the Broward Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
Besides what he expects will be high interest in the November elections, Scott said there won\u2019t be as many people voting by mail as in the past. He said changes in state law and practices are responsible.<\/p>\n
Surge and decline<\/p>\n
Florida made mail voting much easier in the aftermath of the contentious 2000 George W. Bush-Al Gore presidential election. People no longer need a reason to vote by mail, a change from the old absentee ballot system that required voters to provide a reason such as being out of town on Election Day.<\/p>\n
Starting with the 2004 election, mail voting steadily grew in popularity. Through 2018, Republicans in Florida used mail ballots more than Democrats.<\/p>\n
In 2020, voting-by-mail smashed records when people used it in droves because they wanted to avoid in-person polling places during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
During the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats were much more likely to eschew any in-person voting at regional early voting centers for neighborhood polling places on Election Day and they used mail voting more than Republicans that year.<\/p>\n
Since then, usage has declined for several reasons. As COVID has abated, many people have gone back to in-person voting. President Donald Trump has stoked unfounded allegations that mail voting is rife with fraud. Even though Republican Party organizations have urged the party\u2019s voters to utilize voting by mail, many of its voters have heeded Trump\u2019s concerns and avoided mail ballots.<\/p>\n
And Republicans who run state government assuaged their supporters who grew concerned about Trump\u2019s complaints and have tightened the rules.<\/p>\n
Vote-by-mail requests now last through only one general election and are then canceled. Previously they were good through two November elections. That means someone who requested and received a mail ballot for the 2024 presidential election, won\u2019t automatically receive one for the 2026 August primary or November election.<\/p>\n
A new mail ballot request is required.<\/p>\n
Another change: Drop boxes run by supervisors of elections that allowed voters to return their mail ballots at all hours were restricted and had to be monitored more closely because Republican activists asserted they weren\u2019t sufficiently secure and could be subject to fraud. The state even changed the name to \u201csecure ballot intake station.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Broward](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-Joe-Scott-elections-01.jpeg\")
Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott outlined his office’s preparations for the 2026 primary and general elections during remarks to the Broward Democratic Party in Plantation on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Anthony Man\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nVoter intimidation<\/p>\n
During his appearance at the Democratic Party, one voter asked Scott if he is worried about the prospect of ICE agents showing up at polling places, demanding identification and proof of citizenship, potentially dissuading citizens from voting.<\/p>\n
Scott said he has control of the space within 150 feet of the door of a polling place. \u201cThey\u2019re not allowed to be within that 150-foot radius,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n