Big early voting crowds in Florida

Early voting in Florida

Big early voting crowds in Florida

Early voters wait in line to vote in the Presidential Election on the first day of early voting at a polling station setup at the City of Miami City Hall on Oct. 27, 2012 in Miami.

By Peter Nicholas

     MIAMI, FL – Early voting opened on Oct. 27, 2012 in Florida, the largest combat zone state in the Presidential Election with people waiting hours in some cases to their cast ballots.

    Wait times at some Miami-Dade County polling locations reached five hours as of mid-afternoon Saturday according to the county elections department.          

    Early voting polls were developed to welcome President Obama campaign officials, who hope to secure a large vote for the President in advance of Election Day.

     According to Romney‘s campaign the Obama camp is pushing supporters to vote early and they are not gaining more votes just recording votes that he would have received on Nov. 6.

    The outcome in Florida is essential to both candidates without Florida. Romney will be pushed to pull together the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Losing Florida would be less affective to President Obama. The Obama campaign is urging supporters to cast ballots during the eight-day window set aside for early voting, rather than wait until Election Day on Nov. 6.

    An association of Black clergy, labor union officials and community activists are also urging people to vote early through a campaign dubbed “Operation Lemonade.”

    Last year, the state’s Republican-dominated legislature severed the early voting period from 14 days to eight. President Obama’s supporters saw that as an attempt to hamper his early-voting advantage in a state he had won in 2008.

    So, they’ve vowed to turn a “lemon” into “lemonade” by trying to generate a large turn-out in a reduced early voting period that ends Saturday, Nov. 3.

    Black clergy and elected officials in Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and other Florida cities took part in marches last weekend, leading the parties to early voting stations.