With only one day of early voting remaining, a staggering 237,889 mail-in and early votes have already been cast in the local tri-county area (Marion, Sumter, Lake). That is nearly five times the number of registered voters that showed up to polls in the 2014 mid-term elections (44,947).
Sumter County early voting data show that 34,468 registered Republicans have casts their votes through the end of the week. That number is over double the 14,305 registered Democrats who have cast early and mail-in votes. Nearly 19% of all voters in Sumter County (11,275) are registered to a third party outside of the major two or have no party affiliation. This is below the state average, where over 26% of all registered voters are registered under a third party or with no party affiliation.
In Lake County, the numbers are a little closer together, but registered Republicans still lead the way with 42,508 early votes submitted, followed by 29,134 registered Democrats. Almost 20% of all votes cast in Lake County (17,625) were by voters registered under a third party or with no party affiliation.
Finally, in Marion County the mail-in and early voting totals have painted an almost identical identical picture as in Lake, with 43,209 registered Republicans casting their votes compared to 30,148 votes by registered Democrats and 15,217 votes by voters registered as under a third party or with no party affiliation.
As the end of early voting ends, the state will set its sights on election day for the final results. If you haven’t already, make sure you get out and vote! And check Villages-News.com for all of your election-day coverage.
