[ad_1]
Polling stations greeted voters dropwise under a cool breeze, an unusual occurrence in this hot subtropical state that forced Floridians to dust off socks and jackets.
Annie Belman, wearing a mask, sunglasses and a light sweater, voted for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who is seeking to defeat Republican President Donald Trump.
The septuagenarian said the president’s poor management of the pandemic was a factor in her decision.
“Trump’s approach to science and his reckless behavior is one of the many reasons I would never vote for him,” he says at a deserted Miami polling station.
Florida is a destination for retirees from all over the country, who come to retire here for its warm climate. Historically, it is the state with the highest proportion (20.5%) of people over 65 years of age.
Traditionally Republican, polls have hinted that these retirees, who are more vulnerable to the coronavirus, could lean towards Biden due to the pandemic.
Of Florida’s 14.4 million voters, 9 million have already voted early or by mail, according to the Florida Division of Elections. They are about 2.4 million more than in 2016 in the same period.
It is expected that the national figures will take days to be known, but Florida – unlike other states- has been counting early and mail votes daily.
For this reason, its authorities assure that they will release the results relatively soon.
In addition to white people in rural areas, Trump has secured another key electoral group in Florida: Cuban Americans and other Hispanics convinced that only the president guarantees them that they will be safe from a socialist government.
Clara Giménez, a 49-year-old Cuban who arrived in the “Mariel” boat in 1980, said that she voted for Donald Trump “because he is an anti-communist and because he is a millionaire, he does not need money nor does he need fame.”
Who’s going to vote for Biden? She wondered, incredulous, under a pink cap with the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.”
“We do not need a ‘nice’ president, we need a president like him, who has pants, who defends his country and who loves his country.”
Spread equally in this diaspora destination state, Florida’s Cubans and Puerto Ricans push in opposite directions: the former are overwhelmingly Trumpists, the latter dislike the president after his administration of Hurricane Maria.
This is the case of José Pérez, a 63-year-old Puerto Rican in Kissimmee, in central Florida.
“I have been a lifelong Republican. But I and my whole family have become more like Democrats because of Trump, “he told AFP.
Biden can afford to lose Florida and still win the presidency, but almost all models show that Trump needs a victory in this state to stay in the White House.
In his last campaign speech in Miami at midnight Sunday, Trump told supporters: “If we win Florida, we win everything. You know it, right? “
Florida is crucial in the election because it contributes 29 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win. To add suspense, their trends are impossible to predict and their margins of victory are often very narrow – and include counts.
For example, in 2000, Republican George W. Bush moved to the White House thanks to a difference of 537 votes in Florida, while in 2016 Trump won this state with a margin of 1.2 percentage points.
[ad_2]
