Election officials in Brevard County made one thing clear before the first ballot was cast Tuesday: rising water would not stop Florida from voting.
“Yes, we are conducting an election tomorrow,” Brevard Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic told the News Service of Florida on Monday.
His statement came as torrential rain pounded the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for seven counties: Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie.
The order gives local supervisors of elections added flexibility. They can move any polling site that floodwater makes unsafe or impossible to reach.
DeSantis’s declaration aims to give election administrators extra authority to keep voting accessible as conditions change.
Water covered roadways across the affected area and forced schools to close. Election staff spent Monday lining up alternate voting locations with only hours left before the polls opened.
Brevard County took some of the worst of it. Schools there closed Monday and Tuesday, and officials shut several roads for a time after heavy rain overwhelmed parts of the county.
Bobanic said most of his county’s polling places were ready to go. His team kept reviewing backup sites in case any location became cut off.
Staff members worked alongside municipal governments and emergency-management personnel to follow flooding and road conditions as they developed.
The weather also shut election offices in Titusville, Melbourne and Palm Bay on Monday. The Viera office stayed open. A canvassing board meeting planned for Monday afternoon was canceled.
Florida law spells out the next step when an emergency keeps voters from their usual precinct.
Officials must open an accessible replacement site and post notices at the original location that direct voters to it.
The state Division of Elections said it was communicating directly with the impacted counties.
“The Division of Elections is in contact with the counties impacted and will respond pursuant to state law, as necessary,” spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.
Timing carries weight because Election Day voters generally must go to their assigned precinct, a requirement early voters do not face. Officials worked to notify voters quickly of any further moves.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday and remain open until 7 p.m. local time. Voters still in line at closing may cast their ballots.
Bobanic addressed how his office would reach voters if sites changed late. “We will get the word out the best we can,” he said.
Florida has handled storm-related election trouble before. Hurricane Michael devastated portions of the Panhandle in 2018, and then-Gov.
Rick Scott authorized alternative polling locations after the Category 5 storm. This week, the heaviest flooding arrived immediately before voting began.
Tuesday brought more showers and thunderstorms to South Florida, though forecasters expected less widespread rain than Monday.
Broward and northern Miami-Dade counties remained under a risk of excessive rainfall and flash flooding because the ground was already heavily saturated.
A coastal flood advisory stayed in effect through Tuesday evening. Dangerous rip currents and hazardous marine conditions affected Atlantic beaches.
Floridians cast ballots in major statewide contests, including races for governor and U.S. Senate.
State officials said they would keep monitoring the affected counties and respond as needed while voters turned out.
Early Election Day numbers appeared online as well.
The Open Source Zone account on X posted figures showing 19,428 Republican voters (53.2%), 9,040 Democrats (24.7%) and 6,989 independents (19.1%).
The Republican total exceeded the combined Democratic and independent totals.
