Early voting hours extended throughout Florida

This just in: Gov. Crist, after consulting with the secretary of state and members of the Florida Legislature, has ordered that early voting hours be extended to 7:00 am till 7:00 pm through Friday, then any combination of 12 hours during Saturday and Sunday*(12 hours all on Saturday, 6 each on Saturday and Sunday, or whatever). The order is effective immediately and covers the entire state.

Florida's congressional Democrats asked Crist last week to keep early voting sites open later and keep them open on Sunday after reports of voters waiting hours in line to cast their ballots since early voting began on extend the weekend hours.

More than 1.8 million Floridians - including more than 67,000 in Palm Beach County - had voted early as of 5 a.m. this morning, according to the state Division of Election's Web site.

But not everyone was pleased with Crist's demand.

Assistant Palm Beach County Administrator Brad Merriman, who has taken over as election supervisor, expressed shock at the governor's order.

With early voting now available from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., staff and volunteer poll workers are already working long days, he said.

Immediately after receiving news of the order, Merriman said he would meet with elections staff to determine how to carry it out.

And here I thought Republicans were only about suppressing the vote.

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* Counties vary as to availability of Sunday voting. We can vote on Sunday in Palm Beach but, for example, Martin, St. Lucie, and Brevard counties have not offered Sunday voting. This may change in light of the governor's order today.

Advice for Palm Beach County residents for early voting

I voted today. Felt good. Voted for Obama-Biden, plus Ron Klein for Congress (FL-22), Maria Sachs for the state House (86th district), Michael McAuliffe for state attorney, Shelley Vana for county commissioner (3rd district), along with several lower-level offices, judge retentions, and so on. I also voted on the constitutional amendments as recommended by the Progressive Guide to Florida's Proposed Constitutional Amendments (big surprise there), meaning NO on 2 and yes on all the others.

Now for the advice I mentioned in the post title: if you're voting in Palm Beach County, I'd recommend going where I did, the Boynton Beach City Library downtown. I was in and out in half an hour, as compared with the West Boynton Branch Library that reportedly had a three-hour wait at midday.

I'm excited about the turnout, but I have to admit that I'm a little worried that some people will forgo voting if they see long lines. I even saw one couple look at the measly little line at my polling place and decide they couldn't wait even that long. What a shame. I hope they come back.

The point is: I think you'll find shorter lines in downtown Boynton, perhaps shorter than anywhere else in the county, but no matter where you go, plan for half a day's wait, just in case. And remember you can vote anytime from 10am to 6pm on weekdays, 10am to 2pm on weekends, right through Sunday, November 2, at any of the locations listed here (PDF).

Whatever you do ... Just. Go. Vote.

Early voting is underway

The early voting period in Florida has begun, and it runs right up through Sunday, November 2. Preliminary reports are that turnout is heavy for the first day, and in at least one case in Palm Beach County, people actually camped out overnight to cast their votes.

In Wellington, people faced waits of an hour and 15 minutes at the village's municipal complex, where poll workers directed traffic and warned undeterred voters of the long line ahead. Parked cars lined both sides of the grassy shoulder of the road.

One woman said she had asked for the day off from work two months in advance. Others said they thought the lines would only get worse in the days ahead. Early voting for the Nov. 4 election runs until Nov. 2.

"There's just an excitement," said Tess Mackey, 38, of Royal Palm Beach, who came out with her husband, Bruce. Both were Democrats voting for presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"The lines are only going to get longer," said Bruce Mackey, predicting a high turnout for the election. "I think the numbers are going to be astronomical."

Some voters came armed not only with their voting cards, but pup tents too.

Twenty-eight-year-olds Crist Jarrett of Delray Beach and Nik Meredith of Boca Raton held a tailgate party and campout in the parking lot of the Southwest County Regional Library, one of 11 early voting spots in the county.

Anecdotal evidence: when I went to downtown Boynton Beach earlier today to try to snag tickets for the Obama appearance tomorrow, I personally saw a fairly long line, about 25 people long, outside the City Library there. (I most likely will be voting on Wednesday myself ...)

It's a terrific idea to vote early. You can do so at your convenience, even on the weekends, at multiple sites -- you don't have to vote in your precinct, just in your county -- and it frees you up to do volunteer work on Election Day! Help drive people to the polls, make phone calls, provide refreshments -- whatever suits you, your help is vital on November 4, and if you vote early, you can plan to be available to help out that day. I'll be a Voting Rights Attorney/Poll Watcher myself ... more to come on that, so stay tuned.

We're setting records and making history here, folks. Believe it.