Santa Rosa and rest of America is voting

Polls in Santa Rosa County opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open till 7 p.m. tonight.

Voters in Santa Rosa County will not only be voting on the next President of the United States, but locally races for sheriff, tax collector, County Commissioner for District 1, and the District 2 seat on the Santa Rosa County School Board.

Also there are six proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.

The Santa Rosa Press Gazette will keep you updated on all local election returns as soon as the polls close locally and across the State of Florida. 

Across the state, despite scattered reports of machine glitches and some long lines, voting continues to go smoothly across Florida, Secretary of State Kurt Browning told reporters this afternoon.

Two of those glitches occurred in neighboring Escambia County, but was handled with little or no effect on registered voters casting their ballots.

At the current rate, Florida is poised to break the 83 percent turnout record set in the 1992 presidential election, Browning said at a 3 p.m. briefing.

"I almost hate to say this, but it's been eerily quiet and that's a good thing," Browning said.

Despite reports of voters waiting longer than three hours at one South Florida precinct, Browning said the average wait time statewide has been 15 to 20 minutes.

Browning also acknowledged that ballots in Hollywood were misprinted, presenting voters with two identical versions of Amendment 3, a property tax break for homeowners who add energy-conservation or storm-hardening improvements. Local elections officials will have to sort out how to tabulate them, he said.