Early Voting Closes With Hillsborough Turnout Over 40 Percent and 5.2 Million Florida Ballots Already Cast

Early voting is over in Tampa Bay. The last early-voting sites closed at 7 p.m. Sunday, ending a run that began October 19 at 27 Hillsborough County sites open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and from 7 p.m. on, a Hillsborough voter who has not yet voted has two options left: return a mail ballot to the Supervisor of Elections, or vote in person on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, Tampa Bay 28 reported.

The early turnout was heavy. According to figures from the University of Florida reported by the station, more than 5.2 million of Florida's more than 13 million registered voters have already cast a ballot, by mail or in person. In Hillsborough County, more than 40 percent of voters have already turned out - which means nearly 60 percent have not, and for them, planning for Tuesday will be key.

Tuesday works differently from the early-voting weeks in the one way that matters most: there is no any-site voting. A voter must vote at the polling place assigned to their precinct, where their ballot is printed and waiting for them, the Supervisor of Elections' office says. Polls run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and mail ballots must be in an elections office's hands - not a precinct polling place - by 7 p.m. Tuesday to count, as this desk reported in its Monday-gap file earlier today.