- November 23, 2024
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Almost half of Flagler County’s registered voters have already cast their ballots for the 2024 general election, just one week into the early voting period.
Flagler County has 96,750 registered voters, according to the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Office. Of those, 18,283 voters have submitted ballots by mail and another 26,075 cast their ballots in person in the first week of early voting, as of Oct. 28.
Early voting for the Nov. 5 general election began on Oct. 21 and will continue daily through Nov. 2. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. residents can cast their ballots at any of the county’s five early voting locations.
Flagler Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart said this year early voting has already exceeded her expectations.
“This is the first time that early voting has surpassed mail ballot turnout in many years,” Lenhart said. “I'd have to go back through the years and look, but it's been a long time.”
In comparison to 2020, the previous Presidential Election, a total of 28,537 residents voted during the entire Oct. 19-31 early voting period, while 31,881 submitted ballots by mail. Some 72,000 total Flagler County residents voted that election — 78.5% of the county’s registered voters at the time.
Over 45% of the county’s registered voters have already cast ballots for the 2024 election.
Lenhart said the Supervisor of Election’s Office had anticipated an increase in early voting turnout for the November election, with at least 30,000 people voting early.
“We’re quickly meeting that goal,” she said.
Only 29% of Flagler County’s voters voted in the Aug. 20 primary election. Lenhart has previously stated how important it is that residents participate in the voting process, especially the primary, as most local elections are decided in the primary election.
On the November ballot, not only will voters be deciding on the next president of the United States, but also several local representatives: the District 7 State senator, the District 19 State representative, and, for Palm Coast residents, three elected officials in Palm Coast.
Cornelia Downing Manfre and Mike Norris are both running for Palm Coast mayor. Ty Miller and Jeffery Seib are competing for the Palm Coast City Council District 1 seat while Ray Stevens and Andrew Werner are vying for the city’s District 3 seat.
These seats are elected city-wide, though the city council candidates must reside in the district they are running for.
The November ballot also has six constitutional amendments, including an amendment legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults over 21 (Constitutional Amendment Number 3) and an amendment on abortion rights (Constitutional Amendment Number 4).
Also on the ballot is Palm Coast’s charter amendment. This amendment would remove a section of the charter that outlines a financial cap of $15 million on the city’s borrowing capacity, as well as the requirement for a loan greater than that amount to be approved by a public referendum vote.
Voters can go to flaglerelections.gov/Election-Info/2024-General-Election on the Elections Office’s website to learn about the candidates and amendments or read the Observer’s Election Guide online.
