Mail-in ballots are rolling in to election supervisors

With Florida entering the final month before the Nov. 5 election, the number of voters casting mail-in ballots has started to accelerate.

Data posted Friday on the state Division of Elections website showed that 76,587 mail-in ballots had been received by elections supervisors, up from 42,573 on Thursday. The Friday total included 32,688 ballots cast by Democrats and 28,216 cast by Republicans. Also, 13,928 unaffiliated voters and 1,755 third-party voters had cast ballots, according to the data.

Marion County Supervisor of Elections, Wesley Wilcox, said 45,068 ballots were mailed out for the general election consisting of 19,041 registered Democrats, 18,165 Republicans, and 7,862 other party affiliations.

The morning of Oct. 9, Wilcox reported 8,804 returned ballots from 3,781 registered Democrats, 3,551 Republicans, and 1,472 other party affiliations.

But that number was growing. “We should be close to 10,000 before we close today,” wrote Wilcox.

During the last general election in 2020, a total of 205,754 Marion County residents participated.

Marion County voter turnout jumped to 257,729 in the 2024 Primary Election.