Polk County's Early Vote Surged on Its Final Two Days: More Than 140,000 Ballots In, Nearly a Third of the County
Polk's early voting peaked at 11,470 ballots on its final day, Republicans hold a narrow edge in ballots cast despite the governor's public alarm — and none of it becomes results until after 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Nearly one third of registered voters in Polk County have already cast ballots ahead of Election Day. More than 140,000 residents had voted as of 10 a.m. on Nov. 2, according to an unofficial tally from the Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office — 30.53 percent of the county's 459,905 eligible voters, with mail ballots still being added as they were counted.
Registered Republicans held a slight lead in votes cast: 57,179 Republicans had voted by mail or in person, compared with 54,878 Democrats and 28,374 voters registered with other parties or none — 40.7 percent, 39.1 percent and 20.2 percent respectively. That is a narrower Republican share than the county's registration would suggest: 42.2 percent of Polk voters are registered Republican, 29.2 percent Democratic and 28.6 percent other or unaffiliated. In all, 86,286 people cast ballots in person during early voting and another 54,174 had voted by mail.
The surge came at the end. Early voting ran Oct. 19 through Oct. 31 at 10 locations and peaked with 10,160 participants on Oct. 30 and 11,470 on Oct. 31, the final day, with long lines photographed at voting sites. The busiest location was Nora Mayo Hall in Winter Haven, with 12,751 ballots, followed by the Government Center in Lakeland at 11,916. Polk's numbers drew the governor's attention midweek: "Republicans are underperforming in Polk County," Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on Oct. 29, noting a registration advantage of 60,000 in a county that went Republican by about 30 points four years ago; he followed up on Oct. 30 that "Republicans have improved in Polk today" and urged them to sustain it. President Donald Trump carried Polk in 2024 with 59.7 percent to 39.1 percent.
The final chance to vote in Polk is Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on a ballot that includes Florida governor, U.S. Senate and House, state legislators, county commission and school board, three proposed state constitutional amendments and a property-tax referendum for Polk County Public Schools. The Supervisor of Elections Office will not post any voting results until after polls close on Election Day.
