Tagged: absentee ballot

On the Florida Roundup:  Florida has its new Education Commissioner, former Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett.  We’ll learn why Jeb Bush fans are thrilled and the teachers unions are not. NPR’s StateImpact Florida reporter Sarah Gonzalez will tell us why many of Florida’s high school graduates are not ready for college work.  And we hear from you on Florida’s growing need for remedial education and what the purpose of high school should be.  Tweet us @WLRN.  

The Miami-Dade absentee ballots have all been counted. And color us blue. That blank on the U.S. map usually known as Florida is now filled in. Mitt Romney has conceded Florida. Miami-Dade County itself turned out for Barak Obama in a big way. The final results are :   62% for the President and 38% for Mitt Romney. Now the attention turns to what took so long and how to prevent a repeat performance. Elections Supervisor Penelope Townsley admits more and larger locations are needed and says her department, along with the mayor's office, will examine what can be done differently.

State election officials say they have received just over 1 million early votes and more than 1.5 million absentee ballots. Meanwhile, election officials are visiting Palm Beach County again.  The county's election office has been plagued with printing problems on its absentee ballots.

Early voting starts tomorrow, and many say they plan on taking advantage of the pre-Election Day hours.  Mary from North Miami writes:

I like the feeling of participation and community that comes with standing in line with neighbors I don't even know. But there's a limit to the number of hours I want to devote to this experience, and I want to make sure my vote gets in, so I'll probably be voting early next week.

At the urging of the Obama campaign, Florida voters are showing up at elections offices around the state to fill out absentee ballots.

This comes on the heels of elections supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties advising voters to get absentee ballots and mail them.

The reason: long ballots and possibly long waits.