Early Voting Begins Amid Technical Issues in Florida

Early voting in Florida kicked off to strong turnout across various counties, including the Treasure Coast, with reports of long lines and issues with county election websites. In Indian River County, nearly 2,500 voters cast their ballots by early afternoon, while St. Lucie County reported nearly 3,000 votes. However, many election websites, including those in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, experienced outages, causing difficulties in accessing critical voting information. VR Systems, the vendor responsible for the websites, acknowledged the problem but did not provide details as to the cause. Despite these technological issues, early voting remains open until November 2, with many voters opting for this option to avoid crowds on Election Day. Voter engagement appears to be high, with significant participation noted in Escambia County as well.