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Voters in Florida have lots of decisions to make on their ballots. In addition to the presidential race, Floridians are also casting votes for a Senate contest, congressional races and two important ballot measures. One would overturn the state's current ban on abortions after six weeks. The other would legalize recreational marijuana. NPR's Greg Allen spent the morning at a polling station in south Florida and filed this report.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Between early voting and mail ballots, more than half of Florida's registered voters cast their ballots before Election Day. And going into today, Republicans held a several-hundred-thousand vote edge over Democrats. For Democrats to do well here, they need a big turnout at the polls. At a library in the Miami suburb of Cutler Bay, voters trickle in all morning, with only a short wait. Robert Glazebrook (ph) said he came to vote for Donald Trump because he thinks the country's on the wrong path.
ROBERT GLAZEBROOK: We were on the wrong direction when the Biden administration started, and it seems to have been relatively downhill since then.
ALLEN: Trump carried Florida in the last two presidential elections, and polls make him the clear favorite to win again this year. One reason for that is the strong support he enjoys among Cuban Americans, a big voting bloc here. Rozalen Mareno (ph) said he was there with his wife, Maria, to vote for change. I asked him, does that mean you're voting for Trump?
ROZALEN MARENO: Not at all. I want a change from the drama, from the danger, for the hate. That is the change that I want.
ALLEN: Mareno knows most other Cuban Americans don't share his views and his support for Harris.
MARENO: You know, there is a lot of Cuban - I don't know why. Maybe it's Fidel Castro in his mind. They're always thinking about - they don't think it's Trump versus Harris. They think it's Trump versus Fidel Castro. I don't know why.
ALLEN: Until several years ago, Florida used to be considered a swing state, one almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. But Florida has changed as retirees and other more conservative voters have moved to the state. Republicans now have a million more registered voters than Democrats and control every statewide office. This year Democrats hope a good turnout could help them unseat incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott. With the support of the national party, Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has been running ads targeting the senator and former governor.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)
DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL: Florida's biggest snake isn't in the Everglades. He's in the Senate - Rick Scott.
ALLEN: Scott, one of the richest members of the Senate, has helped fund his own attacks against his opponent.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell - a silly socialist, wrong for Senate.
ALLEN: At the polls in Cutler Bay today, the Trump voters all said they were voting for Scott. Ava Horton (ph) said she voted for him because of his support for school vouchers and other educational issues when he was governor and now as Senator.
AVA HORTON: Like, he's always been there to make sure things are excluded from what's in our school system - the kind of books they're able to read, the things that are exposed to. So I felt like I went more conservative in that route.
ALLEN: Florida is one of 10 states voting on abortion today. Florida's ballot measure, if approved, would overturn the state's current ban on abortions after six weeks. Janine Gomez (ph) is a Trump voter and one of several I spoke to who said she was voting for the measure.
JANINE GOMEZ: You should be able to make your own decisions about your body. That's basically how it is. Just because I wouldn't get an abortion doesn't mean the girl standing next to me doesn't deserve to have one if she wants one or needs one, medically speaking.
ALLEN: In other states, voters have approved abortion rights measures when they've been on the ballot since Roe v. Wade was overturned. In Florida, though, ballot measures require the support of 60% of voters to pass, a high bar. Greg Allen, NPR News, Cutler Bay, Florida.
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