Collier County sees active first day of early voting

Bigger and better is how the turnout for Collier County’s first day of early voting was described Monday by Collier County’s Supervisor of Elections.

Many voters lined up early to get through the door at 9 a.m. The county reported around 800 voters an hour. Some had to wait over an hour in the rain to cast their ballots because of the high volume of people.

We learned about what Supervisor Jennifer Edwards and her office are advising people to do to avoid long lines before Election Day.

“I want to get it over with,” Denise Wills said. “I’m tired of all of the ads and the phone calls and the polling and the whole process.”

Collier County early voters were determined to cast their ballots for early voting despite at least six of the county’s nine voting locations reporting wait times of an hour or more during the morning.

If you’re thinking of casting your ballot Tuesday Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office reported shorter wait times as the afternoon went on, with the Everglades City and Immokalee voting locations were shown to be the fastest.

“I dropped my kids off at school, and I wanted to come vote today,” Tara Gallo said. “And I waited in the pouring rain because it was necessary and important to vote.”

Some say they don’t feel comfortable with mail-in voting.

“I felt that, especially this year, it would probably be better to vote in person,” Jamie Satz said. “Sometimes the ballots get lost in the mail and what not.”

All the voters we spoke to agreed having their voices heard and exercising their right to vote is of great importance.

Supervisor Jennifer Edwards says being prepared and knowing what’s on the ballot is one of the best ways to make lines go faster.

“We mail sample ballots to our voters,” Edwards said. “And they can mark those and bring them with them.”