Democrats worry about long early voting lines in Orange County

Some people are waiting in line for two or more hours in early voting lines, according to Central Florida Democrats, who sent a letter asking the Orange County Supervisor of Elections. Glen Gilzean for help.

The letter singled out the University of Central Florida (UCF) in particular, with “frequent and prolonged shutdowns” at the polling place. The letter also mentioned the Alafaya, Southeast, Chickasaw and South Creek library campuses, as well as the Apopka Community Center, as places with long lines.

“All of these sites experienced wait times in excess of 2 hours midweek; the lines on the last weekend of early voting will undoubtedly be much longer,” the letter, signed by 13 officials, including U.S. representatives, said. Maxwell Frost, Darren Soto and other state and county officials.

“Queues at several early voting locations were incredibly long, but this is not necessarily due to increased voter turnout. UCF, for example, has wait lines of up to four hours right now with empty voting booths inside,” the state representative wrote. Anna Eskamanian Orlando Democrat who also signed the letter, on X.

The letter expressed concern that the people stuck in line are voters of color, college students and working-class Floridians.

Officials are asking Gilzean to deploy the maximum number of registration machines, polling booths and poll workers to keep the lines moving this weekend.

When reached for comment on Friday’s letter, Gilzean’s spokesman, Christopher Heathhighlighted the steps already taken.

“As of last week, we added new express polling locations next to three other polling locations: Winter Park Library, Winter Garden Library and Southwest Library. We have added additional voting booths at the Alafaya Library and Marks Street. We have added additional poll clerks and registration tablets at the Chickasaw Library and the Alafaya Library,” Heath said in a prepared statement.

“Because many UCF students are not registered to vote in Orange County, we opened our phone bank to help students update their voter registration so they don’t have to spend time at the polling place to move registration from another part of the state. to Orange County to vote.”

Gilzean’s office has been in “constant communication” with officials, including Democrats and Republicans, as well as community groups to address the long lines, Heath added.

Voters decide the presidential race in Tuesday’s election, but also some key local races and statewide ballot initiatives.

The other officials who signed the letter are state senators. Linda Stewart, Geraldine Thompson and Victor Torres; state representatives. Tom Keen, Johanna Lopez and Lavon Bracy Davis; Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado; Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph; and Orange County Commissioners Emily Bonilla and Nicole Wilson.

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