All eyes are on Campaign '08!
Oct 20, 2008 10:16 am US/Eastern
Early Voting Underway In Florida
Click Here For A South Florida Early Voting Guide
Early Voting Runs Through Nov. 2
General Election: Nov. 4
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Some people are getting a head start on early voting; hoping to be some of the first to cast ballots in the state of Florida.
This year, early voting has gained a rock concert feel to it; people actually camped out to be the first to have their say.
The president of the FIU College Democrats, Franco Caliz, held a sign-making party on Sunday before Obama's Tuesday visit to Miami,
"Senator Obama," said Caliz "is willing to speak with our enemies and engage in diplomacy, which this administration has failed at doing."
About 20 Obama supporters camped out in front of Miami Beach City Hall overnight to be the first in line when the polls opened at 7 a.m. Monday morning.
CBS4 reporter Liv Davalos said there were some problems during the opening of the polls. The polling station temporarily shutdown after two of the Scantronic machines, used to check in voters, were not functioning correctly. It took about 40 minutes to re-boot the machines and have them in operation. Some voters were upset because they had to wait in line for about an hour before they could cast their ballot. Elections officials said all of Opti-Scan voting machines worked properly.
Speaking to a group of John McCain supporters Sunday at an event in Aventura, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman called for a strong early turnout, hoping it favors the Republican candidate.
"Without Florida, John McCain is not going to be President," Lieberman said, "This state will decide the next President."
Early voting for the November 4th Election which includes the Presidential race plus other key races ends Nov. 2nd, just two days before the nationwide Election Day.
During that two week time period, the early-voting sites, usually in public libraries or government buildings, will be open up to eight hours each day. Early voting is convenient for many reasons, including avoiding the crowd on regular Election Day. This year, Florida voters requested more than 1.6 million absentee ballots.
Hundreds of thousands of voters have already cast their ballots nationwide, beginning an early voting rush that will continue through Election Day. Voting began last week in Illinois and North Carolina. This week, those states will be joined by the battlegrounds of Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.
Early voting started in Florida in 2004. Absentee voting used to only be used for people unable to make it to the polls on Election Day.
Nationwide, experts predict that up to a third of voters this year will register their choices early, in person or through the mail, up from about a fifth in 2004.
Registered voters can go to any early-voting site in the county where they are registered. Each person must show a photo identification to obtain a ballot.
Click here to see an interactive map with early voting locations and hours of operations in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties. There are also sample ballots and instructions on how to vote.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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