Turnout in Florida’s midterm election reached 60.9%, the second-highest figure recorded in the state in the past 30 years. Turnout exceeded 50% in all 67 counties, and about 8.3 million residents in total took part in the Nov. 3 vote. Gov. Ron DeSantis believes one of the most important factors in mobilizing voters was a proposal to significantly cut property taxes.
This year’s turnout was about seven percentage points higher than in the 2022 midterms. A better result was recorded only in 2018, when Ron DeSantis was first elected governor of Florida. That year, about two percentage points more eligible voters went to the polls.
Early voting played a particularly large role. About two-thirds of all ballots were cast before the official Election Day. Residents used both mail-in voting and polling places opened ahead of time under the early voting procedure.
The highest turnout was recorded in Sumter County, home to the famous retirement community The Villages. There, 73.6% of eligible voters went to the polls. Jefferson County came in second at 70.1%. High participation was also recorded in Leon County, where turnout was 68.6%, in Sarasota County at 67.4%, and in Madison County at 66.8%. The lowest result was registered in Santa Rosa County, where 51.9% of voters cast ballots.
One of the key items on this year’s ballot was Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment on property tax relief. Of the approximately 8.3 million people who voted in the election, nearly 7.94 million cast a vote on the measure. Almost 62% of voters supported the proposal, which allowed the initiative to clear the 60% threshold required for approval.
According to Ron DeSantis, this year’s mobilization resulted precisely from the presence on the ballot of an amendment proposal lowering property taxes. The governor believes that without Amendment 3 on the ballot, turnout could have been much lower.
Edited by JŁ
Source: Słoneczne Radio
