ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Early voter turnout for Tuesday’s special election for Florida’s Congressional District 6 seat has surpassed St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicki Oakes’s expectations.
Mike Waltz left the seat when President Donald Trump appointed him to serve as National Security Advisor.
Rep. State Senator Randy Fine and Dem. Josh Weil is on the ballot in a race considered much closer than expected.
MORE | Race for Florida’s congressional seat to replace Mike Waltz drawing massive national interest
The district covers Flagler, Putnam, parts of St. Johns, Volusia, Marion, and Lake counties.
Oakes shared that there is a lot of interest in voting for this special election.
She mentioned that some people were turned away during early voting because they did not reside within the District 6 boundaries.
“In St. Johns County, we have 240,000 registered voters. In Congressional District 6, there are only 33,000 eligible voters,” Oakes said.
Even with having to turn away ineligible voters, early voter turnout exceeded Oakes’ expectations.
“Voter turnout is much better than it was in the Primary Election. St. Johns County will be going into Election Day starting right about 22%, so my general prediction for this special election was 20%, so we’ve already exceeded that,” Oakes said.
Some voters, like Elizabeth Nichols, prefer to wait until Election Day to cast their ballots.
“Even voting for the president, we’re last-minute people. We get out there and vote. We have things going on, so it’s just last minute,” Nichols said.
When asked about the national attention, Nichols added, “It’s a little nerve-wracking, honestly. I mean, we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but everything that’s been going on, my family’s pretty scared about things that are happening in the world today, so it’s important for our families to get out there and vote.”
Oakes hoped the national attention would encourage more voters to head to the polls on Tuesday.
“I’d love to see 30, 35% voter turnout. That would be great, especially for a special election,” Oakes said.
Even with hopes for higher turnout, she recommended double-checking voter eligibility on the website.
“My advice is, please check your registration and make sure you’re eligible to vote before heading out to the polls,” Oakes said.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can check your voter status and precinct on the Supervisor of Elections website.
