I Wanted To Test The Florida Voting System So I Waited Until Election Day To Vote

I was curious. I wanted to test the voting system in Florida. Sure, I received numerous notices about voting early and voting by mail. I just wanted the experience of voting on Election Day. Particularly, voting in Lee County, which was ravaged by Hurricane Ian. Because of the impact of Hurricane Ian, numerous Election Day polling places in Lee County are unavailable. A lot less places for people to go and vote. So this is where I want to do my test. It's also where I live.

I pulled into the Estero Rec Center drive and noticed the absolute wall of signs encouraging me who to vote for. To be honest, there were so many of them I didn't see what any of them were about. I'm sure the people putting them up had fun, but when there's that many it's just a blur.

The people in line were quite friendly. We talked about everything but politics. This upcoming Tropical Storm/Hurricane Nicole is on everyone's mind. Also, it seems that everyone here is originally from Ohio.

At 9:48 I got into the Estero Rec Center. Tom Petty was playing in the background. We were greeted and given some basic rules and what to expect once we got to the polling room. Everyone is so friendly.

Once inside the polling room I showed my Florida driver's license and got my ballot. Someone met me at the voting booth to explain how everything works. Very thorough. You inserted your paper ballot into a machine and then used a touch screen to cast your votes. Once completed, the machine prints out your choices onto the paper ballot. You walk your ballot over to a second machine and feed it your ballot. That's it. Grab your free sticker, a squirt of the hand sanitizer, and go.

I left the Rec Center at 9:56. So factoring in drive time the whole voting process took about 90 minutes. Not bad at all considering everything we've been through these past 6 weeks. I was pleasantly surprised on just how smooth this Florida voting thing was. Nice job Lee County.

More about Nicole:

Tropical Storm Nicole Update From Lee County

Lee County officials today provided an update on Tropical Storm Nicole.

The anticipated impacts at this time, include the following.

The county is cognizant that many residents are living in damaged homes because of Hurricane Ian or may be staying in RVs or tents on their property. The following shelter options will be available.   Alico Arena is now open as a shelter and is pet-friendly. It opened at 10 a.m. today.   North Fort Myers Recreation Center will open as a shelter at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, and will be pet friendly.  Please do not go there today, as it is a polling place.

Watch the video below or read the full recap below.

The county is committed to keeping you up to date. The county has co-located the Tropical Storm Nicole information on the Hurricane Ian website.  More information is available at www.leegov.com/storm.  Follow @Lee County Government on Facebook, www.facebook.com/leecountyflbocc

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