ORLANDO, Fla. — Early voting starts in many Central Florida counties starting on Monday and voters are gearing up to make their voices heard.
Early voting offers benefits for voters, including flexibility when it comes to when and where citizens can vote.
Unlike election day voting, citizens don’t need to vote at their assigned polling place. They can vote at any early voting location as long as they bring a valid ID with a signature.
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On Monday, early voting begins in Orange, Osceola, Lake, Seminole, Brevard and Flagler counties.
“I feel like we are very politically charged right now,” said Steven Madow.
In Orange County, early voting will be open through Nov. 6, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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“You’re literally choosing the people that are going to make the decisions about your everyday life. I mean these things impact us more than what’s going on with the presidency,” said Stacy Binder. “Our local communities and the things that impact us every day, this is the most important, in my opinion, that you should be voting for.”
In Orange County, voters will get to decide whether they say yes or no to an ordinance that would cap rent increases for a year. Voters will also decide whether to approve a new 1% transportation tax that would use funds to improve public transit.
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Across Florida, voters will get to choose between competing visions for the Sunshine State in two high profile races. Charlie Crist and Ron DeSantis are going head to head in the race for governor, and Marco Rubio and Val Demings are also vying for votes in a competitive race for the U.S. Senate.
This early voting cycle is likely to see a larger turnout than the summer primaries, where only 22% of Orange County voters cast a ballot at all in the August primary, and a little over 44,000 people decided to do so during the early voting period.
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For more information on the upcoming election, you can check out the WFTV Voter’s Guide.
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