The Supervisors of Elections from Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties say they are worried because voter turnout for early voting is alarmingly low compared to the 2018 midterm election.
Voter Turnout so far:
- Lake County: 21%
- Orange County: 17.7%
- Osceola County: 18.1%
- Seminole County: 18.9%
- Volusia County: 24.1%
Voter turnout in many counties is low, say officials. For example, voter turnout in Volusia County is just more than 24%, which is more than 3% higher than the statewide average.
The county leaders said election fatigue and misinformation may have played a huge role.
“We’ve all suffered from this deluge of lies that are being told,” Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays said. “Please, don’t pay any attention to the nonsense that you’re hearing. Make sure you get your questions answered by your local supervisor of elections or by one of the election workers at the polling place because we know what we’re talking about.”
Volusia County’s supervisor of elections says there have been cases of voter intimidation at two early voting sites.
“When you start attacking people that are coming in, even verbally, to vote and trying to discourage them or scare them to come in and vote because they’re worried about their safety, that’s a problem,” said Lisa Lewis.
Poder LatinX canvassers said they hoped to help dispel misinformation.
“Right now, we’re trying to do that,” Cristal Guzmán, a senior leader at the voting advocacy group, said. “Get more education to the people.”
Guzmán, 22, was one of the dozens of canvassers to knock on doors to motivate voters. Guzmán said they began their campaign mid-October. She said the organization focus on highly populated Hispanic neighborhoods in part because of historically low Hispanic voter turnout.
On a daily basis, the organization reports about 65 canvassers knock on 5,000 doors in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. She said aside from helping educate voters, they also let voters know they can vote early.
Early voting was something county leaders continue to push, especially as many people’s voting precincts changed due to redistricting and Hurricane Ian storm damage.
“You don’t have to worry about that if you vote early,” Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson said. “You can just go to one of the early voting locations that you most likely are close to as you go to the grocery store, shopping mall.”
Guzmán said it means a lot to her when she gets just one more voter to cast their ballot each time.
“It’s an empowerment to me,” Guzmán said. “I feel powerful because I get my people to get to vote and decide their future.”
Poder Latin X organizers said canvassers would continue to knock on doors through next Tuesday morning, Election Day. They also said they’ll be at several highly populated Hispanic precincts in case any Spanish-speaking voters’ needs help.