Early voting in Alachua County ends first week with big turnout

Over 200 University of Florida students, faculty, staff and Gainesville residents chanted “bring it home” as Andrew Gillum arrived to speak outside the Reitz Union on Friday.

And Alachua County voters of all political types appear to be doing just that. Voters here had cast 28,100 ballots by end of the day Friday, closing out the first week of early voting, with 16 percent of registered voters having cast ballots either at one of the six early voting sites or by mail.

That's almost twice as many early votes as were cast in the first five days of the last midterm election in 2014, and three quarters of as many votes at the same point in the presidential election of 2016.

Voters who registered as Democrats account for 59 percent of total votes so far, Republicans cast 27 percent, while independent and third-party voters cast 15 percent. Early votes were 53 percent, with 47 percent coming in by mail.

For Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor, it was the second stop of the day for his campaign bus tour.

The rain stopped, the clouds cleared and the sun began to beam. The steamy weather didn’t stop the group from marching from Turlington Plaza to the Reitz Union to hear Gillum speak and to cast their votes.

Gillum rallied the crowd, discussing his platform and the issues he would focus on if he were to win. He spoke about tougher gun laws, allowing former inmates the right to vote and efforts to reduce global warming and climate change.

Gillum said elected officials are looking closely at young voters. He applauded those who have already voted at the Reitz Union, saying that it’s the highest voting precinct of any located on college campuses across the nation.

He said college students are broadly perceived as more interested in voicing their opinions through social media than at the ballot box. “But we have an opportunity to give them an unapologetic message,” he said to the crowd. “By getting in there, casting your vote and letting those elected officials know that you have the power to put them in office and the power to take them out.”

Gillum said this election cycle is among the most important the country has had to face. When the 20-minute long speech ended, a throng of students rushed to get in line to vote.

Ruth Siegel, 21, said she went to the rally on a whim and wasn’t planning on voting that day. But she was so moved by what Gillum said that she went straight to the polls.

“I had some spare time, and I was like ‘Wow, when am I going to get another opportunity to see the potential next governor of Florida,’” she said. “It was so great. It was so inspiring.”

So far, for the Nov. 6 ballot, 2,983 people have cast ballots at the Reitz Union, the first time early voting has been held on campus because of a court ruling.

Millhopper Branch Library, 3145 NW 43rd St., has seen 4,994 voters — the most popular site of the six in Alachua County. Other early voting sites in Gainesville include the Supervisor of Elections Office, 515 North Main St., and Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St. Early voting is also being done at Legacy Park Multipurpose Center, 15400 Peggy Road, Alachua, and Melrose United Methodist Church, 5807 Hampton St., Melrose.

Early voting continues through next Saturday. Wednesday is the last day to request a mail-in ballot. More information is available at votealachua.com.