Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes

On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.

With two hurricanes hitting southwest Florida in the last month alone, some thought voting turnout may be down on the first voting day.

The day after Milton, Leah Valenti, the supervisor of elections for Charlotte County, said people requested mail-in ballots from the other states they relocated to because of the hurricane.

She told WINK News that the damage from these recent hurricanes definitely had an impact on the number of people coming out to the polls early, and not in the way you would think.

“All our electrical stuff outside was underwater. My husband’s in his 80s. He’s still assessing stuff. This is more important right now,” said voter Kay Abs.

Hurricanes Milton and Helene did not spare Charlotte County, and many continue to struggle during their return to normalcy.

“My favorite places to go eat, they all got flooded out,” said Charlotte County voter Anthony Nutt.

Not even the early voting locations.

“Our cellar flooded and unfortunately shorted our elevator, which rendered the elevator non-working, which the building is no longer ADA compliant,” said Leah Valenti, the supervisor of elections.

If you think the loss this county experienced is causing people to lose out on their chance to cast their vote early, Think again.

“Everybody goes through some trauma in life, but there are things that are very important that we just have to take care of. And I think voting in this election is one of them,” said Charlotte County voter Judith Grossman.

Valenti, the supervisor of elections, knows that firsthand.

“We have more vote by mail returned right now than in the entire primary election total,” said Valenti. “At the event center alone, within the first two and a half hours, there were more voters that showed up than in the primary election at all three locations for a day.”

The hurricanes and what happened after them are actually the things driving people to the polls.

“You know, who’s actually been on the ground making sure that the people are comfortable, making sure that the people receive communication, you know, which is essential,” said Nutt.

“We do hear from voters and voter sentiment, and I think this is a heightened sense of who they want leading their county, their country,” said Valenti.

To put into perspective just how big of a turnout Charlotte County has already seen, Valenti told WINK News that the vote by mail returns have already eclipsed the primary election.

They already have 22,000 returned, and in the primary, they had a little over 19,000 in total.