Early Voting in Palm Beach County: Final Weekend Opens With Democrats Leading Turnout

Early voting in Palm Beach County enters its final weekend on Saturday, Oct. 31, and ends Sunday, Nov. 1, ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election. Registered voters can cast a ballot at any of the county's 28 early voting locations, open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., regardless of where they live in the county, according to the Supervisor of Elections guidance published by the Palm Beach Post.

Nearly a third of the county's registered voters had already cast ballots as of Oct. 29, and Democrats were showing a much stronger performance than four years ago, the Palm Beach Post reported from data compiled by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. Nearly 127,000 registered Democrats had voted, compared with about 82,000 Republicans - a roughly 45,000-voter advantage - and another 54,000 voters with no party affiliation had cast ballots. The Post noted there is no indication in the data of how anyone voted.

Democrats also held a commanding advantage in vote-by-mail ballots returned, nearly 72,000 from registered Democrats compared with roughly 34,000 from Republicans, the Post reported. Supervisor of Elections Wendy Link has noted the county's partisan split is nearly 35 percent each for Republicans and Democrats, with 30 percent registered with minor parties or no affiliation. The Post reported that if the current pace continues, about 170,000 people will vote early, roughly 23 percent more than four years ago, and that Republicans dominated Election Day voting in the county in 2022, outnumbering Democrats by nearly 2 to 1 - the pattern Democrats are trying to cushion against before Nov. 3. County GOP Chairman Carl Cascio told the Post that Democrats appear to have made a concerted effort to have more people vote by mail.