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Voters in at least two dozen counties are being asked to increase taxes on themselves or provide tax breaks for businesses creating jobs.

The success of local tax referendums is often related to how much control citizens have over the use of the funds.

There are more than 25 tax referendums in the hands of local voters around the state.

In nine counties, school boards are seeking to raise the sales tax by a penny, a half penny, or increase local property taxes.

Andrea Messina is the Executive Director of the Florida School Boards Association.

“There certainly are demands from their communities to upgrade or provide more services, or facilities depending on what it is that people are going for. And the districts do not have the funding currently to provide what the community is asking for,” said Messina.

The number of school referendums is actually down from two years ago when 21 were on the ballot.

All passed.

“So clearly the communities wanted to support their local school districts,” said Messina.

Another eight counties want to grant tax breaks for new or expanding businesses.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses isn’t taking a position on them, but told us the employment landscape is changing drastically.

“We’re seeing growth in manufacturing, in services, in construction. And if people want to get on with their lives they need to look at the opportunities that there are in those industries,” said Bill Here, Executive Director of NFIB Florida.

Four counties are seeking additional funding for police, fire, or other social needs.

Manatee County is asking voters to approve a $50 million bond to protect water resources and the environment, Holmes County wants to fund a hospital and Walton County has a tourist development tax on the ballot.

And two counties are asking voters to approve a half mil increase in property taxes for children’s services.

Pollsters we talked to said surveys before and during the pandemic show at most a one percent reduction in support for some taxes, but then added the caveat, they could be wrong on Tuesday.

Six out of ten Florida students have returned to either part or full time in-person learning and there is a chance the State Department of Education will push to return to a normal school year after winter break.

Florida’s First Lady used this week’s Children and Youth Cabinet to lay out the case for a full return to classroom learning.

When it comes to children returning to the classroom Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis argues the science is in.

“The CDC released data showing that children ages 19 and younger have a 99.997 percent survivability rate,” said DeSantis.

When kids are out of the classroom some go hungry, experience mental health issues and lose out on critical socialization.

Others, lose a safe haven from child abuse.

When schools were closed in April, Florida’s Child Abuse Hotline saw a 38 percent decline in calls.

Since students have returned to the classroom calls are back up to normal levels, indicating abuse that was going unseen, is now being detected.

Child abuse survivor Phillip Adams is now an adult, but his experiences have led him to this conclusion on the school reopening debate.

“If I had a choice to be a kid today, I’d rather be at school with a mask than at home with my abuser,” said Adams.

Adams told us the only thing that got him through his abuse was the relationship he formed with one of his teachers.

“She took me home and met my mom and saw the situation. She then began giving me coping mechanisms, not to kind of dive into myself, but to use the situation to become stronger,” said Adams.

And the First Lady hopes to find ways to create similar relationships for children experiencing abuse today.

“And that’s been a priority of the cabinet, is mentorship. How do we get adults into the lives of children to be able to give them direction and hope for the future,” said DeSantis.

Adams’ six children are currently not attending school in-person, but he said they will be returning soon.

When it comes to at risk children he said there’s no question, being at school beats being at home.

Voter registration information is a public record in Florida, but it hasn’t always been that way.

It became public in 2006, but following Wednesday’s arrest of a 20-year-old Naples man for changing Governor Ron DeSantis’s address, supervisors plan to ask lawmakers to take the records out of the public view.

20-year-old Anthony Guevara is facing two felony charges for submitting changes to the Governor’s voting record.

His attorney, Mike Carr, said he is just a young man with too much time on his hands.

“And a on a lark thought he would see if he could access famous people, and that’s what he did,” said Carr.

Guevara’s online information shows he is a registered Republican.

“He doesn’t hate the Governor or anything. He was just playing around,” said Carr.

Leon County Elections Supervisor Mark Earley said the arrest within a day of when the Governor showed up to vote Monday afternoon, should be a message to others.

“Well, I think it speaks to the seriousness with which we take these kind of voter fraud instances,” said Earley.

But Carr said this should be a wake up call.

“If somebody had malice, you could go in and easily change hundreds of thousands of addresses and stuff and throw the election into chaos,” said Carr.

Earley said the ‘I’m not a robot’ feature prevents wide scale attacks.

Still, supervisors plan to revive an effort to remove voters’ registrations from public record.

“I think the key benefit is just peace of mind for voters. We get a lot of complaints that all of this information we give to you just so that we can vote is out there, public knowledge. That’s not what I signed up for,” said Earley.

It’s also important to know that when the address change form is submitted, it doesn’t actually change your voter file.

It goes into a cue, where local elections staff review it.

So any wholesale attacks would be noticed and thwarted.

Guevara is free on bond.

He is set to be arraigned before a judge on November 23rd, the Monday before Thanksgiving.

With five days remaining in this election, Democrats maintain an advantage in ballots cast, but the GOP continues to cut into their lead.

Both Republican and Democratic strategists believe Republicans have a chance to take the lead going into election day.

On Saturday Florida Democrats had cast nearly 400,000 more votes than Republicans.

Just five days later, that advantage has nearly been cut in half.

“Republicans are closing in on the Democrats quite rapidly,” said Steve Vancore, a democratic strategist and head of VancoreJones Communications.

Vancore likens the current situation to the final minutes of a close football game.

“Your team is ahead, but the other side is moving the ball quickly. And can they get those points on the board?” Said Vancore.

Evan Power, Chairman of Chairs for the Republican Party of Florida believes if Republicans keep pace, it will bode well for them on Election Day.

“We could be up and then I think that there’s still going to be a large Election Day turnout from our Republican voters like we’ve seen the last couple of years and that ends up with a Republican +2 electorate,” said Power.

Still unknown is how the 1.5 million votes cast by Independent voters will be shared between the candidates.

Power expects a 50-50 split.

“That’s why the partisan calculations are so important at this stage of the game,” said Power.

And Vancore said even if Biden captures more independents, Republicans hold another advantage that all but guarantees a close election.

“Republicans put 200,000 more new Republicans into the can than Democrats did by out registering them,” said Vancore.

Both strategists we spoke with agreed a Florida victory is critical for Trump to win the election.

However, there still exists a path to victory for Joe Biden, with or without Florida’s 29 electoral votes.

The Real Clear Politics polling average has bounced around over the past three day, with both candidates trading half point leads.

Biden currently holds the polling advantage by 1.4 percent.

Service industry workers in Destin will protest Amendment 2 this Friday and similar demonstrations were held in Tampa this past weekend.

The demonstrations are part of a final push to warn voters that hiking the minimum wage could kill their jobs.

Amendment 2 would raise Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is warning increasing wages in the middle of a pandemic would devastate small businesses.

“We’re just trying to keep our doors open. Thousand have already closed permanently. I mean look at Disney, they laid off 28,000 employees,” said Carol Dover, President of the Association.

And those fears are shared by some workers in the service industry.

“I can make anywhere from $25-$30 an hour depending on what kind of tips I get,” said Pinellas County server, Sandy Cheek.

Cheek has worked at the same restaurant for 32 years.

She fears if the amendment is passed, her employer will be forced to pay her an hourly wage and do away with tips.

“This is gonna hurt me as a server, it’s gonna hurt us bartenders. I do both. It’s going to hurt the restaurant industry,” said Cheek.

The amendment was at 67 percent approval in mid-September, but a recent poll shows support has fallen ten points.

Of six polls conducted since May, Amendment 2’s polling average sits at 61.5 percent.

The Amendment needs 60 percent voter approval for passage.

The Restaurant and Lodging Association is hoping voters consider the long term repercussions of hiking labor costs before bubbling in their ballot.

“You vote yourself in thinking that you’re voting a pay raise, I can promise you there’s a really good chance that you’re voting yourself completely out of a job,” said Dover.

If Amendment 2 is approved, Florida would be the only state to put such a measure in its state constitution.

Others have set similar policies through their legislature or at the local level.

Both political parties and an army of lawyers are keeping an eye on the Duval County Canvassing Board.

In early October the board adopted a rule without public notice, restricting who could attend meetings and forbidding television cameras or cell phones from taking pictures at meetings.

Both are contrary to state law.

In the state capital and 65 other elections canvassing meetings, reporters are allowed in and so are their cameras.

The one exception is in Jacksonville, where the Duval canvassing board banned television and cell phone photos.

The First Amendment Foundation says it’s wrong.

“A ballot is a public record,” said Pamela Marsh with the First Amendment Foundation. “We have a Sunshine Law problem where the meetings aren’t open to the public. The press isn’t allowed to be in there, and we have a public records problem.”

After pressure, the Duval board on Tuesday started live streaming video of the questionable ballots, but there is no recording.

Unlike Jacksonville, Leon County and others allow observers to get up close and view questionable ballots and photograph them for possible future legal action.

Under state law, actions taken at meetings out of the Sunshine can be invalidated by a court, but lawyers tell us that would be a big ask because it could delay the counting of ballots.

“There are lot of lawyers in Duval county, watching this, wondering how to fix it,” said Marsh.

The rule change to not all photographs was voted on October 9th, but there was no mention of the rule change on the boards published agenda, which could be another violation of the Sunshine law.

In Leon County canvassing meetings photographers and observers have access to every mis-marked ballot.

Leon Elections Supervisor Mark Earley said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Transparency is the name of the game here to add trust to our elections process. So we very much like having cameras here and people,” said Earley.

And the First Amendment Foundation said voter confidence will suffer if voters aren’t sure their intent was considered by a canvassing board.

Many Florida students have been back in the classroom since early August, but the legal battle over how to safely reopen schools is not yet over.

The state’s largest teachers union is reviving its effort to fight the state’s reopening mandate.

Governor Ron DeSantis has made his goal clear.

“School closures should be off the table,” said DeSantis last Tuesday.

But the Florida Education Association argues its lawsuit isn’t about closing schools.

“Opening schools in a safe way. Making sure that every child, every child in this state gets the education they deserve in the safest and securest possible way,” said FEA President Andrew Spar.

The teachers union has requested a rehearing before an appellate court, which previously upheld the state’s reopening plan.

Spar argues the court was wrong to rule districts had an option to reopen brick and mortar classrooms, because they would have lost funding if they didn’t.

“If there’s a consequence that makes it impossible to operate the school system effectively then you really don’t have a choice. It’s a false pretense,” said Spar.

Right now, schools get full funding for virtual students as long as they also offer in person learning, but that protection could go away after winter break.

“You know once this semester ends districts are gonna have to move every student back to in-person learning,” said Spar.

Spar hopes a revised ruling could chart a clear, safe and stable path forward, while still guaranteeing local control.

“It’s never been about reopening or closing schools. It’s been about stability, support, resources and making sure that the best decisions are being made by parents, by educators and by school board members who are elected in their community,” said Spar.

FEA hopes for a quick resolution in the case, which has now been active for more than three months.

FEA has tracked 10 school closures and 834 classroom closures or quarantines due to outbreaks since schools began reopening.

It’s also tracked more than 3,600 cases among students and staff.

Of the almost 4 million mail ballots cast so far, 21,000 have been flagged for missing or mismatched signatures and time is running out for voters to return ballots that haven’t been cast yet.

More than 400,000 votes were cast Monday, bringing the total to 6.5 million.

With voter turnout already at 44.5 percent, this election is on track to beat 83 percent turnout record set in 1992.

Tuesday began with just under 2.1 million mail ballots outstanding.

Traffic at a Tallahassee drop off site was steady.

Poll workers helped identify ballots missing information before it was too late.

“Most of them come completely ready to put in the box,” said poll worker Valerie Witters.

Statewide, more than 21,000 mail ballots have already been flagged for missing or mismatched signatures.

Advocates caution time has run out to trust the post office with your ballot.

“At this point we are suggesting that you still go and drop off your ballot. We no longer encourage the mailing in of your ballot,” said Juanica Fernandes with State Voices.

And advocacy groups point out Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to have signature issues.

“After the August primary, 35,000 votes were rejected and projections for the current election are expected to be much higher,” said Brad Ashwell with All Votes are Local.

The advocates also pointed to Jacksonville, where the Duval Canvassing Board is refusing to let television camera’s view their decisions as they interpret voters’ intentions.

“There has been a lack of transparency when it comes to the canvassing board. We are highly alarmed,” said Mone Holder with New Florida Majority.

You can track your mail ballot online at your local supervisor’s website.

If there is a problem, you can file a cure affidavit to fix it.

Voters with ballot problems have until 5 PM on the Thursday after the election to file their cure affidavit.

Democrats have held a historic lead in pre-election day voting, outpacing Republican returns by hundreds of thousands, but the GOP is beginning to cut into that lead.

Republicans are hoping to recreate the Florida victory scored in 2016 with Election Day turnout at the center of the strategy.

When speaking in the state’s capital this weekend Vice President Mike Pence recalled the President’s reaction when it was clear he’d won Florida in 2016.

“While the returns were coming in, you know, the President took to kind of tapping me on the shoulder and pointing at the screen,” said Pence. “But I’ve got to tell you, when Florida came through I thought he was gonna knock me down!”

Pence urged supporters to recreate that victory, even giving out the address and hours of a local early vote site.

“You can go down to Leon County Courthouse,” said Pence.

But the following day, the county saw the lowest turnout since early voting began.

And even Monday morning, the site pitched by the Vice President wasn’t exactly bustling.

Over the weekend, Republicans did narrow Democrats’ lead slightly.

Still, Florida Democrats have cast just over 350,000 more votes than Republicans.

“I don’t think it’s insurmountable. I think what you’ve seen is they took a lot of their super voters and moved them to vote by mail,” said Leon County GOP Chairman Evan Power.

The GOP is counting on Election Day turnout to deliver a victory.

“If you look back two years ago, it was the Election Day turnout that pushed the Governor over the top and I think we’re looking at the same kind of dynamics here,” said Power.

But Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, the state’s top Elected Democrat, believes even if Republicans turn out in higher numbers, Trump can’t count on their all of their votes.

“I’ve traveled the state. Every three out of four Republican ballots and voters that I have spoken to are just not going to do another four years of Donald Trump,” said Fried.

Power said once all votes are cast, he anticipates a one or two point turnout advantage for Republicans, but there is no guarantee that will be the case.

In 2016 Trump won Florida by just 112,911 votes, beating out Hilary Clinton by just 1.2 percent of the popular vote.

Florida top elected Democrat, Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, cast her ballot for Joe Biden Monday afternoon in the state’s capital city.

Joined by the Florida AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Florida Education Association, Fried explained why she believes Floridians should cast their vote for the former Vice President.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the only ones with a plan. They’ll beat COVID-19, help us reopen safely, get real economic relief to our families, protect our healthcare, strengthen our unions and create millions of good paying jobs,” said Fried.

Fried urged Democrats to return their mail ballots sooner rather than later and to take advantage of early voting.

So far, Florida Democrats have cast just over 350,000 more votes than Republicans.

In his second of two Florida stops Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence made his pitch to voters in the state’s capital city.

Attendees endured hours of rain before the Vice President’s arrival, but even in a blue county the speech drew hundreds.

From the time supporters began trickling into the event and for almost four hours straight, rain put a damper on the Vice President’s campaign stop.

The rain didn’t make much of an impact on turnout with about 500 in attendance.

Just before Air Force Two touched down the rain cleared and Vice President Mike Pence make his appreciation for those who stuck it out known.

“Even when it’s raining you can tell the panhandle is Trump country,” said Pence.

Pence hammered down on contrasts between the Biden and Trump campaigns on issues like healthcare.

“We’ve been lowering the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. We’ve lowered the cost of prescription drugs. We passed Right to Try. Medicare Premium Advantage Plans have been reduced by 34 percent,” said Pence.

And criminal justice.

“We’re going to back the blue. We’re not going to defund the police. Not now. Not ever,” said Pence.

He urged his supporters to show the same resolve on election day as they did through the storm.

“So men and women of Florida, you’ve got to do what you did before. go tell the story and drive a victory,” said Pence.

He even gave the hours and location of a Tallahassee early vote site.

“301 South Monroe Street. Right in the heart of Tallahassee. They are open eight to four,” said Pence.

Pence when speaking on the election said 2020 put the country through a series of trials, but now it has a choice to make.

And it will make that choice in ten short days.

The race in Florida is still razor thin.

Republicans have begun to narrow Democrats lead on vote by mail returns and early voting turnout, but still trail by almost 400,000 ballots returned.

Both Biden and Trump Campaigns are hiring armies of lawyers, just in case there are problems similar to the 2000 election when results weren’t official for five weeks. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the legal battle twenty years ago had already begun before the sun came up the day after the election.

Just after 5am on the morning after the 2000 election, the legal battle was already beginning. Frank Jimenez, the Governor’s top lawyer voice concerns to the State Elections Director about the then Democratic Attorney General.

“The AG is trying to hijack this process” said he Governor’s lawyer.

Attorney Barry Richard got the call at 6am from the Bush Campaign asking him to represent them.

“This year and ever since then, as a  matter of fact, the Presidential campaigns have either had legal teams in place all the time, or have put them in place well before the election.” 

Mark Herron’s phone rang even earlier. 

”I got a call about one AM” he told us. 

He became Al Gore’s attorney and is again working for Democrats.

”I can’t tell you what I’m doing.”

But Herron believes the fight will be over thousands of mail ballots.

“Not withstanding it says you are supposed to sign the ballot, they may print their name as opposed to sign it. That kind of invalidates that ballot unless there is a cure affidavit that can be filed within the period two days after the election.  It’s just gonna be, I think that’s where the battle is going to be.”

We asked Secretary of State Laurel Lee if 2020 could indeed be a repeat of 2000 in  Florida.

“We’re known for close elections” she told us, adding “But we are prepared to meet those challenges is they arise.”

But on that first morning after, no one we talked to, including then Governor Jeb Bush, imagined how the next five weeks would play out.

“There are no problems. The law takes care of all of this” Bush told us as he returned from Austin, Texas where he watched the results with his family.

And then the lawyers came.

Earlier this week, more than 12 thousand mail in ballots had already been flagged for signature problems. By state law, Supervisors must send voters a letter telling them of the problem. 

The State of Florida is reassuring voters their information and their ballots are secure after the FBI announced Iran was behind intimidating emails sent to registered Democrats in the state.

The intimidating emails are the latest in a string of alleged voter intimidation cases across the country.

Democratic voters in multiple states, including here in Florida received a threatening email urging them to vote for Trump or else the Proud Boys will “come after you”.

The FBI has blamed Iranian actors for intimidation campaign.

“It’s concerning, but not unexpected that we’re seeing foreign actors, foreign countries interfering in our elections,” said Ben Wilcox with Integrity Florida.

It’s not entirely clear how voter information was obtained, but Wilcox pointed out someone doesn’t need to be a hacker to get voter information in Florida.

“Their email address and other information might be available to the public,” said Wilcox.

In an emailed statement the Department of State told us, “The Florida Department of State is aware that an email of this nature has been sent to voters in multiple counties. The emails were immediately provided to our law enforcement partners and an investigation is ongoing. We will provide additional information if it becomes available.”

The email campaign comes as authorities investigate alleged domestic voter intimidation efforts.

Police were called after an armed man arrived at an early vote site in St. Pete Wednesday.

And American Conservative Union Chair Matt Schlapp told us when we spoke Monday of threatening letters allegedly left on Trump voters’ doors in Kansas City.

“This voter intimidation I think is a really serious problem. That’s not just a state question, you know that’s really a federal question,” said Schlapp. “When are people over the line and when is this violence just getting to be out of hand?”

For Wilcox, the stories are disheartening to hear.

“It’s too bad that those kind of tactics are at play here. Floridians need to just tune out the noise, have confidence in the electoral process, have confidence in the vote,” said Wilcox.

In a tweet, The Secretary of State told Floridians the state’s databases are secure and while some voter information is public, no one can know who you voted for.

Amendment 3 on the ballot would drastically change primary elections in Florida, making political parties less relevant.

A last minute bipartisan challenge seeking to invalidate the amendment is drawing fire from the Secretary of State.

In a blistering response, the state calls the lawsuit too little too late.

As of 8:30 Wednesday morning more than 3.6 million people had cast their ballots.

That includes votes for Amendment 3.

But whether those votes count at all is still up in the air.

A lawsuit filed last week seeks to have the amendment stricken from the ballot, arguing it will make it harder in the future for minorities to get elected.

“It’s just too easy for parties to figure out how to manipulate the ballot, and it’s not fair representation, and minorities end up losing,” said State Senator Janet Cruz.

Now the state is firing back.

It argues the pandemic already makes this election difficult and not counting Amendment 3 votes would confuse voters.

All Voters Vote Chair Glenn Burhans said the state’s response is dead on.

“The reports the lawsuit is based on bear no indicia of reliability. Now that’s fancy lawyer talk for saying its a sham. And it is a sham. And the lawsuit represents an abuse of the process,” said Burhans.

But both Republicans and Democrats behind the lawsuit say the arguments were expected.

“There have been times that amendment have been stricken after voters have voted. After elections are over,” said Cruz.

The Florida Supreme Court, back in March, said the amendment was not misleading and that it met other requirements to be on the ballot.

The plaintiffs response is due Friday, with a decision expected quickly.

The All Voters Vote campaign believes just the presence of the lawsuit has already confused some voters.

It said fears of less minority representation are not founded since lawmakers will redraw districts before the amendment takes effect in 2024.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made his position clear, he doesn’t want schools to close their doors despite the ongoing pandemic.

At the same time, faculty at universities are expecting a return to face to face learning in the spring.

The moves are being denounced by unions representing K-12 and higher ed staff.

“Whatever the future may hold, school closures should be off the table,” said Governor Ron DeSantis during a Tuesday news conference.

He said the benefits of in-person learning outweigh the risks.

“You know a school kid is about 1,000 times less at risk than somebody who is say, 75 in a long term care facility,” said DeSantis.

The Florida Education Association has been tracking COVID cases in schools and universities.

So far, it has identified more than 3,300 cases in K-12 schools.

At least six schools have closed due to outbreaks.

“So we’re seeing this around the state. You know the whole point here is what the medical experts say, what scientists say, stay ahead of COVID. Take steps necessary. But the Governor is saying ignore it. Pretend it isn’t happening,” said FEA President Andrew Spar.

There’s also a push at UF and FAU for a full return to in-person learning in the spring.

FEA has tracked over 6,300 cases at colleges and universities.

United Faculty of Florida, the union representing higher ed staff, said it’s hearing rumors the push to return to face to face learning may be politically driven.

“They’re being threatened with cuts and political retribution, but we cannot trace that or have documentation to that, but that’s what we’re hearing,” said Candi Churchill with UFF.

According to FEA’s stats, there have been 656 classroom closings or quarantines since August 10th.

The Governor has said only students with symptoms should be forced to quarantine.

FEA has also identified 13 deaths of faculty or their family members since July 6th.

The state’s pediatric report shows 9 deaths of k-12 aged children since the pandemic began.

Both unions worry more in-person learning will put their members at higher risk if safety precautions aren’t dramatically improved and enforced.