Early voting was supposed to make it easier for people to cast a ballot.
Instead, there are reports of people waiting in line for up to six hours in some South Florida counties for a chance to spend time scrolling through a lengthy, time-consuming ballot.
University of Florida political science professor Dan Smith wrote that Florida could be facing an election meltdown that rivals the Florida 2000 fiasco.
Even as far north as Leon County, Obama campaigners were robo-calling random numbers, urging voters to get to the polls, that "it isn't too late to vote today." Robo-calls also urged volunteers to board buses now for Pennsylvania, "to help get voters in Philadelphia to the polls."
"Right now, seems to me this is all about making Rick Scott look bad," said a Tallahassee volunteer for Republican Steve Southerland's congressional campaign.
Regardless of Tuesdays outcome, Democrats will use the final weekend before this years election -- when Gov. Rick Scott didn't do as Gov. Charlie Crist did in 2008 and give voters more time to cast ballots prior to Election Day. It will be part of the 2014 narrative.
Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux said of Scott that the people of Florida will not forget his failure to stand up for their right to vote.
With voters still able to cast absentee ballots at county supervisor of elections offices on Monday and Tuesday, along with the numerous precincts on Tuesday, RPOF spokesman Brian Burgess questioned the demand to extend early voting hours.
It's tough to understand just what they have to complain about, because Floridians enjoy many more early voting options than people in states like New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, Michigan, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Minnesota, all of which have no early voting options whatsoever, Burgess responded in an email.
Florida voters can cast a ballot four different ways: vote by mail (absentee), early in person voting, casting a provisional ballot, and going to the polls the traditional way on election day. When there are so many different ways to cast a ballot, those complaining about our system are probably doing so for partisan political reasons.
Crist, who has become one of President Obamas most visible and vocal campaign surrogates and is widely expected to make a run against Scott in 2014, has joined those calling out the governor for not extending early voting hours.
"The only thing that makes any sense as to why this is happening ... is voter suppression," Crist told The Huffington Post on Sunday. "That's unconscionable. I think it's just the wrong thing to do. And the right thing to do would be to sign an executive order to make sure this doesn't happen and you expand the hours."
The governor's office was not immediately available for comment.
Democrats have filed suit to keep early voting open and been in a constant drumbeat to keep the machines counting.
People emailing the governors office were less kind.
Karla De Anda, from Broward County, called Scott a racist and claimed he was siding with the GOP.
No doubt that your name will be in the history of Florida as the worst governor, one with no moral principles, De Anda wrote. You sold your soul to the interes (sic) of the Republican Party."
While Jessica Karp from Washington County asked for some generosity by extending hours, Donald from Alachua was more graphic.
You're a dispicable human being, Donald wrote. How much is the Romoney campaign paying you to steal this election? You disgust me; you're nothing more to me than some parasite stuck to the bottom of my shoe.
Steven Seal from Alachua pleaded that Florida's credibility is at stake.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889. Nancy Smith contributed to this story.
