Campaign stops continue in Florida during the Halloween weekend
TAMPA, Fla. - On the heels of dueling campaign rallies in Tampa by both presidential candidates, the focus on Florida is not over.
Over the Halloween weekend, President Donald Trump's son, Eric, will make stops in Jacksonville and Orlando on Saturday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will be in Florida on Sunday, making stops in Tallahassee, Orlando and Tampa.
Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, will be in South Florida on Saturday trying to drum-up support in Miami and Palm Beach.
On Thursday, Trump and Biden were in Tampa, trying to make their final case to any last-minute voters in the battleground state.
MORE: Contrast between presidential campaigns never clearer as candidates hold dueling Tampa rallies
Thousands of people waited outside Raymond James Stadium for hours to get a glimpse of the president. There was little social distancing, and some supporters even received medical attention due to the heat.
Thousands attend Tampa Trump rally
Thousands waited hours outside of Raymond James Stadium – also a polling place and COVID-19 testing center – to attend a rally for President Donald Trump late Thursday afternoon. Some wore masks, but there was little social distancing among his supporters. A few passed out from the heat, officials said.
Across town, at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Biden's drive-in rally got cut short by rain as supporters watched from their cars.
The shift to focusing on in-person voting next Tuesday — or sooner, where possible — comes as more than 80 million Americans have already cast their ballots, absentee or by mail. While the Election Day vote traditionally favors Republicans and early votes tend toward Democrats, the pandemic, which has killed more than 227,000 people in the United States, has injected new uncertainty.
More than 50 percent of Florida’s registered voters have cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites, as turnout continues to surge ahead of Tuesday’s elections.
As of Thursday morning, 7,385,667 of the state’s 14,441,869 registered voters had cast ballots, according to the state Division of Elections. The largest chunk, 4,220,229, had been cast by mail, while 3,165,438 voters had gone to early voting sites.
Democrats had cast 2,992,000 votes, while Republicans had cast 2,787,723. Unaffiliated voters had cast 1,510,040, while third-party voters had cast 95,904, according to the Division of Elections
The 1992 presidential contest had the highest modern turnout rate at 83 percent.
Early voting sites will be open across the state through Saturday and in some counties on Sunday.
VOTER GUIDE: Florida early voting hours and locations
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.