After complaints about the closure of the only early voting location for the primary election that has historically drawn more Democratic than Republican voters, the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections will re-open the location for the general election.
The Julia and Charles Cherry Cultural and Educational Center, 925 George Engram Boulevard in Daytona Beach, is one of eight polling places opening Oct. 21 in advance of the Nov. 5 election. The other places are at libraries in Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach, community centers in Port Orange, DeBary and Deltona, and the elections supervisor’s office in DeLand.
The Midtown location first became an early voting site in 2020. But ahead of this year’s primary, Elections Supervisor Lisa Lewis dropped it in favor of the Florence K. Little Town Hall in DeBary,
In 2020, Donald Trump won every precinct in DeBary and 66% of voters who turned out for early voting in DeBary were Republicans.
Turnout in the 2024 primary in DeBary, at 700, was better than in the 2022 primary in Midtown, when 568 people cast ballots, 82% of whom were Democrats.
Lewis, who is a Republican, said the Midtown location first opened in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“We haven’t had a lot of turnout there, so we decided to close it, and that was discussed when we first opened it,” Lewis said. “But there’s been a real outcry that people want us to try it again.”
Jewel Dickson, chair of the Volusia County Democratic Party, said she was among those urging Lewis to reconsider closing the Midtown polling place.
“There was enough pressure from the community from different groups that she looked at it and said, ‘OK, we’re going to go back and do it again,’” Dickson said, adding that she believes Lewis was “kind of forced into that decision” by Republicans, though she clarified, “I don’t know. … I just felt like she was pressured.”
Lewis said she considers a number of things when evaluating early voting locations, including the geographic coverage of the location. There are also restrictions on where early voting can take place. Most locations must be in public places, such as libraries and community centers.
“When I look at sites, I don’t look at people’s party, people’s ethnicity. I just look at the numbers. They weren’t there. And it costs a lot of money to have an early voting site, but we’re going to open it back up. That’s what they want in the community, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Each additional polling place during the general election will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 13 days. She said the cost for each polling place ranges from $7,500 to $10,000 and that these places are limited because they can only be located in public buildings such as libraries and community centers.
Volusia County Democratic Committee member Susanne Raines was among those who cheered Lewis for reopening the Midtown location.
“Reopening the polls was a smart move because turnout in November will be high,” Raines said.
A News-Journal analysis of 2024 early voting primary locations in Florida’s 67 counties found that Volusia had the 12th-lowest per capita rate, at 1.2 per 100,000 people. Polk County had the lowest per capita total, at 0.2 per 100,000. Calhoun and Franklin, two of Florida’s smaller counties with 13,000 residents, tied for the most, at 15.4 per 100,000.
Early voting is just one of three methods used in Florida. Voters can go to more local polling places on Election Day or vote by mail. In the primary, more Volusia voters chose the mail-in option than did early voting and Election Day combined.
This article originally appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach advocates successfully lobby for 8th early voting location
