ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 2 million Floridians have already voted with only 19 days to go before the general election.


What You Need To Know


And Thursday the city of Orlando was preparing to take the next step to help people vote safely by opening the Amway Center up as an early voting location.

Workers set up dozens of voting booths inside for anyone in the county to use starting Monday, October 19.

But it’s going to be especially helpful to people just a few minutes' walk from there in the Parramore community.

"Man I was very excited about it,” said J. Henry, the owner of J. Henry's Barber Shop. 

His shop is just a 5 minute walk away from the Amway Center. 

“Having a voting opportunity, right here in our neighborhood, is truly, truly a dream come true,” Henry said. 

This is the first time the Amway Center has become an early voting location.

They’re setting up between 60-80 voting booths for any Orange County registered voter to use during early voting, regardless of where they live in the county.

But now that a large polling location sits within walking distance of Parramore, Henry believes it will encourage more people there to vote.

“Yes it’ll make a great difference because a lot of the people in the neighborhood who might not have transportation, that might not have a vehicle, they could walk to cast their vote,” he said. 

Orlando city leaders say the only way this was possible was because of COVID-19 clearing Amway’s schedule.

The Center happened to have an uninterrupted stretch of 14 days during the early voting period.

So they're making the most of it.

In fact Henry said he’d take a polling place over a concert or sporting event any day.

“It’s bigger than even having the Amway center or a soccer stadium in the community, because voting can change the outcome of many, many lives to come,” he said. 

Starting October 19,  the entrance into the Disney atrium is going to be open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

And they’re also gonna have boxes there from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. where you can drop off your mail-in ballot as well.

And if you’re worried about parking, officials say any voter will be able to park for free across the street in the Blue Lot.