500,000 Floridians have voted in presidential race already

In a sign of the intense interest in the presidential race, about 500,000 Floridians have already cast absentee ballots and that number is growing by the day.

More than 1.8 million additional voters have requested the ballots, which are typically mailed in.

The heaviest voting so far is taking place in Tampa Bay, Miami-Dade and the so-called I-4 corridor.

Overall, Republicans lead Democrats in the number of voted absentee ballots so far, 45 to 40 percent. That's despite the fact that registered Democrats exceed Republicans by 4 percentage points.

Democrats, however, say they're happy with their absentee-ballot program, which is typically a Republican strength. Democrats trailed Republicans by 16 percentage points relative to this point in the 2008 election.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/500000-floridians-have-voted-in-presidential-race-already/1257068