ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Monday, Oct. 5 was the last day for Florida voters to register to vote in the 2020 General Election.
Being the last day, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office was very busy, both inside and outside.
Orange County’s Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said the department will have record breaking numbers of registered voters for the 2020 General Election.
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Cowles said the number of registered voters is constantly changing due to people registering online, in person and through mandated sites like libraries. As of Monday at noon there were already at over 849,000 registered, compared to 776,721 in 2016.
Orange County resident Fred Gates registered to vote Monday afternoon ahead of the deadline.
“It’s crowded and it’s crazy, but this happens every year; I mean whenever we have a deadline for something people come out,” said Gates.
Gates also said the registration process was quick, only taking a few minutes.
Cowles said there are a lot of different reasons voters came out Monday.
He said while some were new registered voters, others were changing addresses.
Additionally, he said the long line in the parking lot and down West Kayley Street included voters stopping by the drive-up ballot drop off, to return their vote by mail ballots.
Other election supervisors also disclosed how their numbers were looking in terms of registered voters.
Marion County said that with over 263,000 currently registered, they have more registered now than any previous election year.
Osceola also said that they will have more voters than ever before this election.
Osceola’s Supervisor of Elections said, as of Monday morning, they had over 235,000 registered voters, compared to196,363 in 2016 and in Lake County, the Supervisor of Elections said they are at over 261,000 registered, compared to the 222,390 they saw in 2016.
Election supervisors said the numbers are fluid, as they continue to process registration applications.
The Osceola County’s Supervisor of Elections said she expects their final number to grow somewhere between 2,500 and 5,000 once all the applications are processed.