Latest news with #earlyVoting
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Early in-person to get underway in Brevard for special elections for Senate, House seats
Eight days of early in-person voting will begin on May 31 in Brevard County, in advance of the June 10 special elections to fill local Florida Senate District 19 and Florida House District 32 seats. Here is what voters need to know about these elections: Early in-person voting for this special general election will be conducted from Saturday, May 31, through Saturday June 7, at nine locations throughout Brevard. Voters can cast their ballot at any early-voting site. Early-voting sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; and from 8 a.m. to 4 and Sunday. The early voting sites are: Dr. Joe Lee Smith Community Center, 415 Stone St., Cocoa. Kiwanis Island Park Gymnasium, 950 Kiwanis Island Park Road, Merritt Island. Max K. Rodes Park Community Center, 3410 Flanagan Ave., West Melbourne. Scotty Culp Municipal Complex, 565 Cassia Blvd., Satellite Beach. Ted Whitlock Community Center, 370 Championship Circle NW, Palm Bay. Titusville Elections Office, 400 South St., Suite 1-F, Titusville. Tony Rosa Palm Bay Community Center, 1502 Port Malabar Blvd. NE, Palm Bay. Viera Regional Community Center, 2300 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera. Wickham Park Community Center, 2815 Leisure Way, Melbourne. In addition, voters with filled-out vote-by-mail ballots can drop them off in secure election drop boxes at all nine early-voting sites during voting hours. Secure ballot intake stations are available in the lobbies of all four Brevard supervisor of elections administrative office during regular business hours. These are the Brevard office locations: Melbourne: South Brevard Service Complex, 1515 Sarno Road, Building A. Palm Bay: South Mainland Service Center, 450 Cogan Drive SE. Titusville: Government Complex-North, 400 South St., Suite 1F. Viera: Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building C, Suite 105. On Election Day, June 10, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters who vote on Election Day need to remember to vote in their precinct-specific polling location. Assigned precincts can be found on with the 'Find Your Precinct' tab; on a voter information card; or on the sample ballot that has been mailed to each registered voter in Senate District 19 or House District 32. Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic said there have been some polling location changes, so voters should verify the location of their Election Day polling place. The candidates are Republican Debbie Mayfield of Indialantic and Democrat Vance Ahrens of Grant-Valkaria. The seat became vacant when the incumbent, Randy Fine, resigned, effective March 31, to run for a seat in Congress in Florida's 6th Congressional District, a six-county area that includes Daytona Beach. Fine won the congressional seat in an April 1 election. Mayfield currently is a member of the Florida House, representing District 32. She is resigning her seat on June 9 to run for this Senate seat, which she previously held before having to give it up in 2024 because of term limits. Because of the gap in tenure, Mayfield is allowed to seek the Senate seat again in this election. Mayfield on April 1 won a four-candidate primary for the Senate seat, receiving 60.81% of the vote. Ahrens worked in health care as a surgical technician for more than 20 years, and currently works as a retail manager. Ahrens previously sought this seat in 2024, losing to Fine and getting 40.64% of the vote. The district includes most of Brevard County, except for Titusville and areas north of Titusville. The election winner will serve the remainder of Fine's four-year term, which runs until November 2028. Florida Senate members have a salary of $29,697 a year. The candidates are Republican Brian Hodgers of Viera and Democrat Juan Hinojosa of Rockledge. The seat will become vacant because of Mayfield's upcoming resignation to run for the Senate District 19 seat. Hodgers is a real estate broker and insurance agent. On April 1, Hodgers won a close three-candidate Republican primary for this seat, receiving 35% of the vote. Hinojosa is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He previously ran for the House District 32 seat in 2024, losing to Mayfield and getting 35.72% of the vote. The district includes much of Central Brevard County. The election winner will serve the remainder of Mayfield's two-year term, which runs until November 2026. Florida House members have a salary of $29,697 a year. Yes. The deadline to register to vote in this election — also known as "book closing" — was May 12. There are 401,333 registered voters in Senate District 19 eligible to vote in this election. Of those, 44.9% are Republicans; 25.9% are Democrats; 25.5% are no-party-affiliation voters; and 3.7% are members of a minor political party. There are 137,773 registered voters in House District 32. Of those, 46.9% are Republicans; 24.4% are Democrats; 25.1% are no-party-affiliation voters; and 3.6% are members of a minor political party. All of them also live within Senate District 19, so they can vote in both races. Yes. As of Jan. 1, all previous mail ballot requests expired. Voters who wish to vote by mail and haven't yet put in a new request in 2025 needed to request to receive mail ballots for upcoming elections through 2026. Voters choosing to vote by mail had until May 29 to request a mail ballot be sent to them prior to the June 10 election. Voter turnout for the primary was 21.71% of eligible voters. Under state law, the Republican primary was open only to registered Republicans. Bobanic said he is hoping that turnout is higher for the June 10 special general election. As of the morning of May 29, there have been 18,106 votes cast by vote-by-mail ballot, representing 4.51% of eligible voters. Of those, 8,625 were cast by Republicans; 6,698 by Democrats; 2,468 by no-party-affiliation voters; and 315 by members of a minor political party. Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@ on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Early in-person voting for Florida Senate, House seats to get underway
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
South Korea set to break early voting record as presidential election looms
South Korea is set to break a record in early voting as more than 12 million voters cast their ballot in advance of the country's upcoming presidential election. The figure for early voting – as of midday on Friday – represents more than a quarter of South Korea's 44.3 million eligible voters, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Early voting started on Thursday and will end on Friday, in advance of the official vote on Tuesday that will see South Koreans choose who will replace impeached President Yoon Sook-yeol. Yoon set off a political storm in South Korea in December when he briefly imposed martial law before the controversial move was overturned by the National Assembly. The ex-president claimed his decision to declare martial law and order the detention of opposition politicians was due to the government's infiltration by antistate and North Korean forces. Yoon was impeached the same month but was not removed from office until April when South Korea's constitutional court signed off on the impeachment vote. The last poll before the election placed the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung as the frontrunner with 42.9 percent support, followed by Kim Moon-soo from Yoon's conservative People Power Party with 36.8 percent, according to Yonhap. The candidates were trailed in a distant third place by the conservative New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok, who held just 10.3 percent of support. The vote is expected to bring an end to months of political turmoil in South Korea, where a polarised public has mobilised both for and against the impeached Yoon. South Korean police reported an uptick in vandalism of campaign materials and said this week they had apprehended at least 690 people over related incidents, according to Yonhap. Frontrunner Lee told the media he has been wearing a bulletproof vest and installed bulletproof glass at campaign rallies following threats on his life. Police also said this week they had counted 11 cases of social media posts threatening Lee, and one threatening to kill the New Reform Party's candidate.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
South Koreans begin early voting in presidential poll
Democratic Party's candidate Lee Jae-myung (second from right) casts his ballot alongside early voters at a polling station in Seoul. (AP pic) SEOUL : Early voting in South Korea's presidential elections kicked off on Thursday, with both main candidates set to cast ballots in a poll triggered by ex-leader Yoon Suk-yeol's ill-fated effort to suspend civilian rule last year. All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49% of respondents viewed him as the best candidate. Trailing behind him is conservative ex-labour minister Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party – Yoon's former party – at 35%. While election day is set for June 3, those who want to vote early can do so on Thursday and Friday – part of an initiative introduce in 2013 to help those unable to cast ballots on polling day or planning to travel. South Koreans have in recent years turned out in larger and larger numbers for early voting, with 37% casting their ballots ahead of polling day in the 2022 presidential election. Voting began at 6am (2100 GMT Wednesday) for twelve hours, taking place again on Friday. According to the National Election Commission, as of 9am (0000 GMT) the early voting turnout rate was 3.55%, the highest record yet for that time in South Korean election history. Lee, of the Democratic Party, is expected to vote in the capital Seoul on Thursday morning. 'Some say power comes from the barrel of a gun, but I believe a vote is more powerful than a bullet,' he told a rally on Wednesday. According to a Gallup poll, more than half of Lee's supporters said they planned to vote early, compared to just 16% of Kim's supporters. Kim has said he will cast his vote in Incheon, west of Seoul, with his campaign framing it as 'the beginning of a dramatic turnaround', a nod to General Douglas MacArthur's landing there during the Korean War. Kim's decision to vote early has surprised many on the right, where conspiracy theories about electoral fraud –- particularly during early voting –- are rife. The 73-year-old however reassured his supporters that there is 'nothing to worry about.' 'If you hesitate to vote early and end up missing the main election, it would be a major loss,' said Kim on Wednesday. 'Our party will mobilise all its resources to ensure strict monitoring and oversight of early voting,' he said. 'So please don't worry and take part in it,' he said. Conservative candidate Kim shot to public attention in the aftermath of Yoon's martial law debacle, when he declined to bow in apology to the public for failing to prevent the suspension of civilian rule. In contrast, lawyer-turned-politician Lee played a central role in stopping the push to suspect civilian rule, live-streaming his frantic drive to parliament and his scramble over the perimeter fence as he and other lawmakers raced to vote down the decree. He has since vowed to 'bring insurrection elements to justice' if elected president.
CNA
2 days ago
- General
- CNA
How regionalism is shaping South Korea's presidential election
The first day of early voting in South Korea's presidential election saw a record turnout, with more than eight million ballots cast. The election comes after months of political turmoil, following a botched attempt by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law last year. While many voters are focused on candidates' profiles and policies, regionalism remains a powerful force, especially in the south, where political divides are sharpest. Lim Yun Suk heads to the area ahead of the June 3 vote to find out how regionalism is shaping South Korean politics.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Early voting starts for S. Korea election triggered by martial law
Early voting in South Korea's presidential elections began on Thursday, with both main candidates casting ballots in a poll triggered by ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol's ill-fated suspension of civilian rule last year. South Koreans are desperate to draw a line under months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon's declaration of martial law, for which he was impeached. Since then the Asian democracy has been led by a revolving door of lame duck acting presidents as its export-driven economy grapples with trade turmoil abroad and sluggish demand at home. All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate. Trailing behind him is conservative ex-labour minister Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party -- Yoon's former party -- at 35 percent. While election day is set for June 3, those who want to vote early can do so on Thursday and Friday. South Koreans have in recent years turned out in growing numbers for early voting, with 37 percent casting their ballots ahead of polling day in the 2022 presidential election. By midday the early voting turnout rate was 8.7 percent, the highest yet for that time in South Korean election history, according to Seoul's National Election Commission. The overseas voter turnout also reached a historic high, with four-fifths of 1.97 million eligible voters casting their ballots. "Given that this election was held in the wake of an impeachment and a martial law crisis, it naturally reflects the public's strong desire to express their thoughts about democracy in South Korea," Kang Joo-hyun, a political science professor at Sookmyung Women's University, told AFP. - 'Vote more powerful than a bullet' - Voting in Seoul on Thursday morning, Lee told reporters: "There's a saying that a vote is more powerful than a bullet." "Even an insurrection can only truly be overcome through the people's participation at the ballot box," added Lee of the Democratic Party. According to a Gallup poll, more than half of his supporters said they planned to vote early, compared to just 16 percent of Kim's supporters. Kim has said he will cast his vote in Incheon, west of Seoul, with his campaign framing it as "the beginning of a dramatic turnaround", a nod to General Douglas MacArthur's landing there during the Korean War. Kim's decision to vote early has surprised many on the right, where conspiracy theories about electoral fraud –- particularly during early voting –- are rife. The 73-year-old however reassured his supporters that there is "nothing to worry about." "If you hesitate to vote early and end up missing the main election, it would be a major loss," said Kim on Wednesday. "Our party will mobilise all its resources to ensure strict monitoring and oversight of early voting," he said. "So please don't worry and take part in it," he said. After early voting, Kim insisted he still has time to win the race. "We're closing the gap quickly, and at this pace, I'm confident we'll take the lead soon," he told reporters. Conservative candidate Kim shot to public attention in the aftermath of Yoon's martial law debacle, when he declined to bow in apology to the public for failing to prevent the suspension of civilian rule. In contrast, lawyer-turned-politician Lee played a central role in stopping the push to suspect civilian rule, live-streaming his frantic drive to parliament and his scramble over the perimeter fence as he and other lawmakers raced to vote down the decree. He has since vowed to "bring insurrection elements to justice" if elected president. But whoever succeeds Yoon will have to grapple with a deepening economic downturn, some of the world's lowest birth rates and a soaring cost of living. He will also have to navigate a mounting superpower standoff between the United States, Seoul's traditional security guarantor, and China, its largest trade partner.
