Central Florida heads to the polls on the last day of early voting
As Central Florida decides the next election, more counties are wrapping up early voting.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
People in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties have one last chance today to get to the polls early.
More than 120,000 Orange County residents have voted early so far.
Since the doors opened at 8 a.m., there has been a steady flow of people walking in and out of these doors.
They’re casting a ballot before this site and 19 other Orange County early voting centers close at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Read: Election Day 2022: See what’s on the ballot in your county, city in Central Florida
A little over a dozen people stood in line at the Orange County early voting center in Hiawassee, waiting for poll workers to welcome them in on the last day of early voting.
“It is our civic duty to vote and get people in office that’s going to do something,” Alonzo Simmons said.
Over 870,000 people are eligible to vote in this election across the county, but so far, only 27% of those people have cast a ballot either by mail or in person.
Joel Rose, 12, is just a couple of years short of voting. But he has big ideas about what should happen during this election and in the future.
“I was thinking really hard on who I should vote on and what I could learn from them,” he said. “I’m thinking about running for governor in the next 15 years.”
But first, Rose’s father wanted him to get the experience of learning how to cast a ballot.
Read: Here are the statewide elections on Florida ballots
Donna Williams, 59, said she registered to vote when she was a teenager and she hasn’t missed an election since.
“This is what my people have ... fought and went to all things to do, so this is my duty to vote,” Williams said.
Williams said she was avoiding potential crowds on Tuesday.
Read: Here are the candidates for Central Florida state senate, representative races
With a governor’s race, a Senate election and a number of local county races, Williams said too much is at stake to sit this election out.
“The commissioners, the senators, the ones who are in your communities speaking for you, those are the people who are your advocates,” Williams said.
As people are casting their ballots, the candidates vying for their votes are also making final campaign stops.
Marco Rubio and Gov. Ron DeSantis will be speaking at a Republican Party event in Orlando on Sunday. Charlie Crist is hosting an event in Miami and Val Demings is hosting a get-out-the-vote block party in Orlando.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
