With more than half of Florida’s counties holding early voting as of Monday — 15 days before Election Day — Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging supporters to vote sooner rather than later, even as Donald Trump and some other Republicans urge them to wait until Nov. 8.
DeSantis has made election integrity a major issue since Trump began making false claims about a stolen 2020 election and has supported various measures to address it, including the creation of an election police force that made controversial fraud arrests in August.
But the governor has also repeatedly noted that Florida voters should feel confident in their own elections — and feel confident to vote early or by mail, two methods that Trump has criticized as unfounded as allowing fraud.
For more from ABC News’ team of reporters in the battleground states, watch “Power Trip: Those Who Seek Power and Those Who Chase Them” on Hulu with new episodes Sunday.
After getting back on the trail after Hurricane Ian, DeSantis split with Trump on the issue. The former president told Nevada rally-goers on Oct. 9 that early voting would make it easier for Democrats to cheat. He did not give evidence.
The DeSantis message, though, is this: Any form of voting will do.
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He sometimes takes tallies in election programs. “How many of you are going to vote by mail?” he asks. “In early person?” he adds. Silence turns to glee when asked “Election Day.”
On Sunday in Bal Harbor, DeSantis pushed back on that preference, telling a packed Jewish Community Center to get to the polls as soon as possible to avoid a “mulligan” in two weeks.
“If you wait until Election Day, you get a flat tire, you can’t take a mulligan,” DeSantis said then. “If you vote early, you’ve done it, you’re able to. If something happens [you’re on your way], you’ve got another shot at it.”
“We cannot be complacent about it,” he added.
Democrats like DeSantis have been advocating early voting. “I encourage you not to wait until Election Day,” Senate candidate Val Demings, who is challenging Rubio, wrote on Twitter Monday.