4-minute read
With the 2024 general election one week away, nearly one-third of eligible Polk County voters have already cast their ballots.
By the time Polk’s 10 early voting sites closed at 7 p.m. Monday, 140,241 people had voted either via early walk-in voting or vote-by-mail. That’s 30.47% of the county’s 460,251 eligible voters.
Polk Elections Supervisor Lori Edwards predicts 72% of Polk’s registered voters will have turned out by Election Day, Nov. 5. That’s a slight drop from the 73.3% who voted four years ago when the presidential candidates were Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Polk’s early voting sites will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Sunday. Get a list of all 10 here; the Lakeland locations are:
- Polk County Government Operations Center, 930 E. Parker St. (map)
- Simpson Park Community Center, 1725 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. (map)
Avoiding lines: There was a slow but steady flow of people going into the Parker Street voting location a little after 5 p.m. Monday at a rate of three to five per minute. That site is one of Polk’s two busiest early voting locations, along with Nora Mayo Hall in Winter Haven, according to Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards.
“Even at the busiest sites we’re seeing the lines moving with no one waiting more than five minutes or so,” Edwards said. For those who want a better chance of avoiding lines, she has two pieces of advice:
- “Go now as (early voting sites) will get busier towards the end of the week.”
- Mid-day has been the busiest time, so try to go early or late.
For those who plan to vote at their precinct on Election Day (find your precinct here), the busiest times are typically the two hours just after the 7 a.m. opening and the two hours just before the 7 p.m. closing, so try to go at other times, if possible.
Vote-by-mail: The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot has passed. For those who have not yet turned in their vote-by-mail ballot, they must be received (not postmarked) at the Supervisor of Elections Office by 7 p.m. Election Day – Tuesday, Nov. 5.
You can either mail it in (no additional postage is needed) or take it to one of the early voting sites during hours they are open or to the Supervisor of Elections offices in Winter Haven or Bartow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
By the numbers
Party breakdowns: Republicans and Democrats are more likely to have voted early than those who have no party affiliation or who belong to small parties:
- Republicans make up 47.23% of those who voted early, while they account for 40.9% of total Polk voter registration. So far, Republicans show a preference for walk-in early voting, with 59.64% of early voters choosing that option.
- Democrats make up 33.44% of those who voted early, while they account for 30.04% of total Polk voter registration. So far, Democrats show a preference for mail voting, with 57.27% of early voters choosing mail.
- No-party affiliates and members of small parties make up 19.19% of those who voted early, while they account for 28.99% of total Polk voter registration. So far, they show a preference for walk-in early voting.
Comparisons with 2020
“I keep hearing about record turnout in the news, but that isn’t happening so far here in Polk,” Edwards said.
Turnout was 27.17% after early voting closed on Sunday night, which was nine days before the election. At the same point in 2020, turnout was 34.3%, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
One big difference: Early voters slightly favor walk-in voting over mail-in voting this year. In 2020, many were still isolating because of COVID, and mail-in ballots were used much more: 104,374 in 2020 vs. 63,501 this year.
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