Early Voting Ends Tonight in Orange County — and Tuesday's Rules Are Different: Your Assigned Precinct, 7 to 7, Mail Ballots Due at the Elections Office
The 27 early-voting sites close at 8 p.m. Eastern after a two-week run that drew more than 5.1 million Florida ballots statewide; from here, the only road left is Election Day itself, at your own precinct.
The flexible part of the 2026 election ends tonight. Orange County's early voting — running since October 19, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 27 sites where any eligible county voter could vote at any location — closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. Statewide, more than 5.1 million Floridians had already voted by Sunday, the Palm Beach Post reported, a turnout the University of Florida Elections Project's reporting put at a Republican early-ballot lead of roughly 153,000 after a late-afternoon surge — a lead well below the party's margins at the same stage in 2022 and 2024, as reported figures rather than certified totals.
Tuesday is stricter, and the differences matter. On Election Day, November 3, polls run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters must vote at their assigned precinct — the any-site rule ends with early voting. Anyone in line by 7 p.m. stays in line and votes. A mail ballot cannot be mailed at this point and still arrive in time: it must reach the Supervisor of Elections office by Election Day, and the deadline to request a mailed ballot passed on October 22.
For the I-4 corridor, the practical close of the early-vote story is the weather and the clock: Monday's forecast is the week's wettest, Election Day itself carries a rain chance above 50 percent on the station's live feed, and the voters who have not yet cast a ballot now have exactly one window left. Check your assigned precinct before Tuesday morning — after tonight, it is the only door open.
