Vote-by-mail ballots dominate as Manatee County approaches primary election day
More than 50,000 Manatee County voters have cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s Primary Election, according to the latest data from the Manatee Supervisor of Elections Office.
The vast majority — about 45,000 — of those ballots were vote-by-mail. By the end of early voting period, 19.3 percent of Manatee voters had turned in their ballots.
Those numbers aren’t surprising, said Supervisor Mike Bennett, who has been pushing vote-by-mail ballots as an insurance policy against COVID-19.
“People who get a vote-by-mail ballot will vote, even if there’s nothing on there,” Bennett said. “They always vote at a higher percentage than anyone else. They’ll always vote higher.”
“I think it’s the trend of the future, definitely,” he added. “You’re going to see more and more people vote by mail. When November comes, we’ll probably send out 125,000 ballots.”
Bennett said he expects a turnout of about 30 percent by the time the polls close Tuesday evening.
“By and large, the whole election has gone rather smoothly considering the virus and everything we’re dealing with,” Bennett said.
On Tuesday, Manatee voters may determine several key races, including seats at the Manatee School Board, County Commission and county courthouse.
According to the elections office, about 40,000 voters from each of the two major parties requested vote-by-mail ballots. Each party returned about 50 percent of them, sending in about 20,000 ballots per party. Bennett’s office said 19,000 voters with no party affiliation requested ballots, too, but only about 7,000 returned them as of Monday afternoon.
About 22,000 Republicans had turned in their ballots by Monday morning, leading Democrats by 2,000 ballots. About 7,500 voters without party affiliation have turned in ballots.
There are also several changes to polling locations, due to a shortage of available poll workers. The changes are as follows:
- Precinct 103, Terra Ceia VIA Club is moving to Palmetto Point Civic Association, 637 43rd St. Blvd. W, Palmetto.
- Precinct 111, Piney Point Mobile Home Park Recreational Hall & Precinct 203, Coach House Mobile Home Park are moving to Family of God United Methodist Church, 5601 16th Ave. E., Palmetto.
- Precinct 125, Colony Cove Harmony Hall is moving to New Hope Baptist Church, 9422 Old Tampa Road, Parrish.
- Precinct 211, Ellenton United Methodist Church is moving to the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto.
- Precinct 217, Pirate City is moving to Mixon Fruit Farms, 2525 27th St. E., Bradenton.
- Precinct 315, American Legion Post #24 & Precinct 321 Freedom Village — the Landings are moving to Elk’s Lodge #1511, 2511 75th St. W., Bradenton.
- Precinct 325, G.T. Bray Park is moving to Emmanual United Methodist Church, 5115 Cortez Road W., Bradenton.
- Precinct 403, South Manatee Library is moving to IMG Academy Golf Club Dining Hall, 4350 El Conquistador Parkway, Bradenton.
- Precinct 405, Trailer estates Auditorium & Precinct 407, Midway Church of Christ are moving to Bayshore Gardens Rec. Center, 6919 26th St. W., Bradenton.
- Precinct 411, Plantation Village West, Recreational Hall is moving to Legacy Baptist Church, 415 67th Ave. W., Bradenton.
- Precinct 521, Harvest United Methodist Church is moving to Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.
Polling locations are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
