- December 20, 2024
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On the first day of Early Voting, Monday, Oct. 21, Volusia saw its highest single day turnout in history: 11,500 votes cast, according to the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections.
By noon Friday, Oct. 25, about 50,000 voters had cast their ballots at one of the eight Early Voting polling locations throughout the county. At the Ormond Beach Regional Library, over 8,000 votes have been cast.
Ormond Beach resident Robin Magleora waited in line for about 40 minutes on the first day of Early Voting, but the line moved efficiently, she said. It's a theme several of the other volunteers — for political parties and individual candidates alike — reported at the polling location.
Why the long lines?
"I think people realize this is a really big election," Magleora said. "People are coming out. ... People are fired up about voting."
Magleora is one of the volunteers with incumbent County Council Chair Jeff Brower's campaign. At the polling site, she had on hand a voter guide created to combat that of the Republic Executive Committee of Volusia County, which left off Brower's name in the race, despite him and challenger Randy Dye both being registered Republicans.
"It's one thing if you have a voter guide and you [say], 'This is who we support, but this is who's running,'" Magleora said. "Versus, let's take your current County Council Chair ... and you don't even have him on the voter guide, like he doesn't even exist. That to me, is just interference."
Steve Miller, a candidate running to represent District 2 on the County Council, and James Powers, a candidate running against incumbent Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood (registered as an independent) were also left off the REC voter guide.
The Observer reached out to Paul Deering, chairman of the Volusia County REC, for comment, but was unable to receive a response in time for publication.
Paul MacLennan was one of the volunteers at the Democratic Club's tent at the Ormond Beach library. Early Voting has been busy all week, he said, with the line sometimes winding around the library to the street.
The Democratic Club's tent has been less busy, but MacLennan said it was encouraging nonetheless.
Volusia County has 381,407 registered voters, 161,624 who are registered Republicans. A total of 106,185 people are registered Democrats and 100,551 are not registered with a political party. A total of 13,047 are registered with a minor party, such as the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties.
Over 5,000 registered Republicans have voted at the Ormond Beach library, compared to 1,578 Democrats and 1,421 independents, by noon Friday, Oct. 25
But, you never know how the people are voting once inside the polling place, regardless of party affiliation, MacLennan said.
"The actual democracy of this country is on the line," MacLennan said. "And unfortunately for a lot of people on the other side, they seem to be in denial of that fact. Their only concern is, 'What's fair to Donald Trump?'"
Ormond Beach resident Marie Halpin has been volunteering for campaigns for over six decades. Sat under the Republican party's tent alongside Ormond teen Pierce Billings, a first-time voter, she said the large turnout is a result of both political parties being determined to win in this election — though, she personally favors former president Trump.
She remarked on the record number of voters on the first day of Early Voting.
"That was unbelievable," Halpin said. "Nobody could believe the crowds that came out. They were lined up way down by 7 in the morning."
Billings said the turnout for Early Voting hasn't died down since Monday. He cast his ballot too that day.
"I've liked politics for a while, so I came prepared," Billings said. "I knew already who I was going to vote for. ... It was a long line, but I was encouraged the whole way."
His message to other young voters? Get out and vote. It's your civic duty.
"I see a lot of people complaining," he said. "The only way to get something done is to vote."
Ray Seymour was one of the voters who participated in Early Voting. He waited in line for about a half hour. His experience, he said, was good.
"We always do it — just tradition," he said. "We always come out and early vote."
Citizen Patti Mazzella said she loves Early Voting because it's less crowds, and she prefers the library to her designated polling place on Election Day. It was a seamless process and she said her wait was about 10 minutes. People are motivated to vote, she said, because of what they have seen take place in the last three-and-a-half years, including the recent hurricane which caused damage to her home.
"I'm voting to cancel out the bad votes," she said with a laugh. "Without being partisan, I'm tired. Three-and-a-half years of everybody struggling. We need to do something different."
This year's election may be the most important election in our lifetime, Ormond Beach resident Doc Brinley said, a volunteer under the MAGA tent at the library. He sported a T-shirt supporting Brower's campaign.
"I think local elections have a bigger impact on your day-to-day life than the national election," Brinley said. "As divided as we are today, if the person is a Harris person, you're not going to convince them to vote for Trump, and if they're a Trump person, they're for Trump. The local election is the most important, I think."
Early Voting will continue through Saturday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ormond Beach library. To see a list of other polling locations, visit https://www.volusiaelections.gov/elections/early-voting.stml.
