News

Nov 05, 2024

Election Day primer: Here's the rundown of what you need to know

The long election campaigns are finally reaching their conclusion, as Brevard County voters will cast ballots on Tuesday for a host of national, state and local offices. Polls will be open from 7 a.m.

The long election campaigns are finally reaching their conclusion, as Brevard County voters will cast ballots on Tuesday for a host of national, state and local offices.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The ballot is four pages long, so plan ahead.

Here's what you need to know:

What to know about the candidates:Here's your ultimate voter guide to the 2024 elections, candidates, issues in Brevard County

There will be a wide range of contested elections, including for the presidency, a U.S. Senate seat and a U.S. House of Representatives seat.

Within parts of Brevard County, there are races for one Florida Senate seat, five Florida House seats, three Brevard County Commission seats, one Brevard School Board seat, one County Court judge race, and mayor and city or town council seats in 11 municipalities.

There also are six statewide constitutional amendments on the ballot, as well as two countywide amendments or referendums, plus municipal amendments or referendums in eight cities or towns.

Brevard voters also will be asked for their thumbs-up or thumbs-down on retaining two Florida Supreme Court judges and seven 5th District Court of Appeal judges.

There are 443,257 registered voters in Brevard eligible to vote in this election.

That includes 200,386 Republican; 116,771 Democrats; 110,165 "no party affiliation" or NPA voters; and 15,935 members of minor political parties.

No. The "book-closing" deadline for this election was Oct. 7.

Very strong. As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, 265,950 people have cast their ballots, either through vote-by-mail ballots, or in person at one of 10-early voting sites that were open from Oct. 21 through Nov. 2.

That includes 129,110 Republicans; 74,310 Democrats; 54,820 NPA voters; and 7,709 members of minor political parties.

That's a voter turnout of 60% at that point.

By time the polls close on Election Day, Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic predicts that turnout in Brevard will exceed 80%. Brevard turnout was 80.31% in the last presidential election, in 2020.

Unlike for in-person early-voting, voters must vote in their precinct-specific polling location on Election Day, when polls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To locate an Election Day polling place, voters go to VoteBrevard.gov, and click on the “Find Your Precinct” tab at the top of the page.

There are 89 polling places for the 162 Brevard County election precincts. Some polling places handle more than one precinct.

In all, there will be about 1,100 election workers on duty on Election Day.

Because identification is required to vote, voters must bring current and valid identification that includes a signature and photo.

Among acceptable forms of identification are a Florida driver's license; a Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; and a U.S. passport.

The identification — which is checked at the polls — is used solely to confirm the voter’s identity, not to verify the voter’s identification number or address.

The photograph on the identification is compared with the person standing before the poll worker, and the signature on the card is compared with the voter's signature on the precinct roster.

If you do not bring proper ID, you can still vote a provisional ballot. As long as you are eligible and voted in the proper precinct, your provisional ballot will count provided the signature on your provisional ballot matches the signature in your registration record.

In general, the peak voting times are 7 to 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and 5 to 7 p.m.

The supervisor of elections office suggests that, if possible, voters should try to vote at a time other than these peak voting periods.

"During the 2024 election cycle my office has stressed the importance of being election-ready," Bobanic said.

"Use the sample ballot mailed to you by the elections office or available on the supervisor of elections website to decide how you want to vote before you go into the polling place," Bobanic notes in his Election Day tips to voters. "This is particularly helpful when there are many races, as well as a large number of constitutional amendments and/or referendums on the ballot," as is the case this year.

Voters can bring marked sample ballots into the polls to help them remember how they want to vote.

However, they cannot leave them in the voting booths or show them to other voters in line.

Yes. When you mark your ballot, make sure you "bubble in" (darken) the oval next to your selection.

Check marks, X's, dashes and other unclear marks may not be seen by the tabulator.

Also, don't circle the oval or the candidate's name. You must darkening the oval itself.

If you make a mistake in voting, tell the clerk in charge of polling place; give him or her your "spoiled" ballot; and you will be issued a replacement ballot.

Your spoiled ballot will be sealed, and no one will be allowed to see it.

You may not receive more than two replacement ballots per election.

No. Once your ballot has been scanned and accepted by the optical scanner, or your mail ballot has been deposited in a secure ballot intake station or received in the election office, it is deemed cast and cannot be retrieved or changed.

A proposed county charter referendum to determine whether to pave certain unpaved roads in Canaveral Groves through the levy of special assessments to residents of that area has been removed from the ballot, through a vote of the Brevard County Commission. That happened after ballots were printed. Only voters in Precinct 102.2 were affected.

Any vote cast for this measure will not count for approval or rejection of the measure.

Shortly after the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Office will post results from vote-by-mail ballots and in-person early voting. These results should give the public an idea of how a race is trending, since early voting will represent a majority of all the votes cast.

The vote counts will be updated throughout the evening as Election Day voting totals are tabulated.

Here is a link to the Florida election results, which will be active after the polls close:

https://www.floridatoday.com/elections/results/2024-11-05/florida

Here is a link to the Brevard County election results, which will be active after the polls close:

https://www.floridatoday.com/elections/results/2024-11-05/florida/12009/brevard-county

In anticipation of increased web traffic for the election, the Supervisor of Elections Office willbe releasing a new feature. The website, VoteBrevard.gov, will transition into "ElectionNight mode" at 6:30 p.m.

“This is a slimmed-down version of our current site, and it will provide faster response times for those who are looking for Election Night results, with direct links to our most visited pages during this time period,” Bobanic said. “I wanted voters to be aware of this prior to Election Night and to reassure them that, despite its different appearance, this Election Night mode version is legitimate and secure. Our Election Night results will be available at 7 p.m., as usual."

On Election Night, web traffic is expected to be at an all-time high, so the Election Night mode should continue to provide fast load times for the public, Bobanic said.

If you receive a vote-by-mail ballot, but decide to vote at your polling location on Election Day, bring your mail ballot with you to surrender to an election official at the polling place.

Doing so will help reduce potential wait times, and expedite your check-in process.

All eligible voters in line at their polling place at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, regardless of the length of the line.

Yes. While they are in their polling place voting, voters may wear T-shirts, buttons, hats, etc., which express their political preferences — as long as they are not actively campaigning.

No photography is permitted in the polling room, except for the voter's own ballot.

Your voter information card has the name and address of your polling place, or you can obtain it by using the online voter status verification form.

Be sure that you know how to get to your polling place. If you don't, contact the elections office for directions.

If you are near a Space Coast Area Transit bus stop, the transit company is providing free fares for everyone on Election Day. Go to 321Transit.com to see all maps and schedules, and use the trip planner to help you get there.

If you need assistance in voting due to blindness, disability, or inability to read or write, you may have someone of your choice (or two poll workers) assist you in voting.

You may not have your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union assist you in voting.

In addition, accessible touch-screen ballot marking devices are available at each polling place.

No. The ballot scanner will count all the races you marked, even if some are left blank.

If you vote for more candidates than are allowed in a contest, only that contest will be affected, and your vote will be rejected in that race. Any other contests in which the allowed number of candidates are selected will be counted.

If you're voting in person, the ballot scanner will alert you that you have "overvoted," and allow you the opportunity to receive a new ballot or cast the ballot as-is.

If you cast a mail ballot with an overvote, it will count that race as an overvote.

You can ask the poll workers questions about the polling place setup and voting equipment.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at [email protected], on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54