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Pundits nationally are now calling Florida’s election system a model for the nation, but it took a national embarrassment to make it happen.

As votes are still being counted, voters in Pennsylvania are getting a message from their Governor.

“So it may take a little longer than we’re used to, even a few days, but that’s okay,” said Governor Tom Wolf in a televised PSA.

And on Fox News, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had this to say.

“Florida was a national embarrassment in how it counted votes. Now, its the national model of efficiency,” said Huckabee.

But it didn’t come easily.

Florida has been the butt of jokes for nearly two decades.

In 2001, then State Representative Dudley Goodlet shepherded a massive change through the State Legislature.

“I think it happened because reasonable people who can disagree at times understood the importance of getting it right,” said Goodlet.

Just two members of the 160 member Legislature voted no.

The $32 million that was spent in 2001 would be worth about $50 million today.

It’s money those involved back then say was well worth it.

It is the framework of what we see today.

And now Governor Ron DeSantis is saying the long national shame is over.

“So, perhaps, 2020 was the year that we finally vanquished the ghost of Bush versus Gore,” said DeSantis.

Because of the pandemic, the Governor ordered mail ballots be counted early.

We didn’t get a chance to ask if that change will be made permanent.

The Governor also ridiculed Nevada, which stopped counting ballots overnight and said there may have been ulterior motives for the major networks not calling Florida when the outcome was known.

He didn’t specify what those motives may have been.

Candidates weren’t the only thing on the ballot in Florida.

Voters also gave a thumbs up or down to six proposed changes to the state’s constitution.

Voters approved four out of six amendments on the ballot.

Florida’s minimum wage will rise to $15 an hour by 2026.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce fears the wage hike could cost the state half a million jobs.

“And that’s before you factor in COVID at all,” said Dr. Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist of the Florida Chamber Foundation.

John Morgan sponsored the minimum wage amendment.

In a tweet he celebrated saying, “The People of Florida gave the working poor of Florida a forever raise”.

“Yeah there’s going to be a few people that make more money, but it’s at a great cost to Florida,” said Dr. Parrish.

Voters also shot down a proposal to open the state’s Primary Elections.

Amendment guru John Sowinski said opposition from both parties likely sealed the amendment’s fate.

“Folks being told to vote no by both the Republican and the Democratic Party is what brought it down. The surprising thing to me is how narrow the margin was,” said Sowinski.

Voters also rejected a proposal that would have required any future amendment to go before voters twice.

“The proponents tried to frame it as there being a problem with direct democracy. Voters clearly don’t see a problem with direct democracy,” said Aliki Moncrief with Florida Conservation Voters.

And Sowinski hopes voters were able to send a message to lawmakers, who have in recent years sought to restrict the citizen initiative process.

“This is a clear message from voters that it’s a process they support and want to keep,” said Sowinski.

Voters also put a citizenship requirement for voting in the constitution, and voted their pocket book by extending a homestead property tax limitation and approving a tax discount for spouses of deceased veterans.

At least 10 million voters weighed in on each amendment, which Sowinski told us is evidence Floridians value the ability to weigh in on policy questions and likely a reason they rejected the amendment that would have made it more difficult to amendment the constitution.

Despite record numbers of mail ballots and early voting Florida’s Secretary of State said the state saw medium to high turnout on Election Day.

She said the election went smoothly here, but there were isolated issues.

The Trump campaign was hoping to see a red wave of in person voting on Election Day and with the state seeing medium to high turnout despite the fact nine million voters had already cast their ballot it appears that’s come to fruition.

“We got up to over 200,000 plus net voters that were Republican. So to do that we had to have great turnout today,” said Evan Power, Chairman of Chairs for the Republican Party of Florida.

By 9:30 PM pollster Steve Vancore called Florida for Trump.

“The outstanding ballots that are still being sent into the system are leaning slightly Republican,” said Vancore.

Florida’s Secretary of State Laurel Lee reported the state’s election systems were not compromised by cyberattacks and called the election a success.

“And what we have seen today is an example of incredible teamwork between Florida’s voters, our poll workers and our Supervisors of Elections,” said Lee.

But voting wasn’t easy for everyone.

Broward County voter Trey Jenkins said when his ID was scanned at his precinct, he was told he had already voted.

“I was like, well I haven’t submitted a mail ballot. I didn’t get a mail in ballot,” said Jenkins.

He said after waiting about an hour for the issue to be sorted out, he was told a computer error was at fault and he was allowed to cast a ballot.

“I think it’s really important to vote. It’s one of the few freedoms that we get in the United States that’s really important to me, so that’s why I decided to stick it out,” said Jenkins.

Overall the Secretary of State said her office fielded 1,600 calls for voter assistance throughout the day, but she said like in Jenkins’ case, elections supervisors were able to sort out the issues to allow every eligible voter to cast a ballot.

Lee also noted voters were well mannered and respectful at the polls, she encouraged civility no matter the final results.

The Secretary of State says all 6,000 precincts opened on time across Florida Tuesday morning.

Technology issues were reported in two counties, and security was tight in the Capitol and elsewhere.

As polls opened, the 43 degree temperature was the coolest of the fall so far in North Florida.

“I wanted to get it over with and done before I head off to work,” said Leon County voter Emily Lockard.

Inside, it took the first voter seven minutes to cast the first ballot.

“I just felt like I don’t want to worry about signatures not matching if I dropped it in the mailbox. I just wanted to know my vote was going to count and not have to worry about it,” said Leon County voter Daniel Voyer.

“I always vote on election day,” said Leon County Voter Mary Rose Stone.

As of of 11 AM, 1.2 million mail ballots were still outstanding.

Thousands were being turned in at drop boxes across the state.

Security at the state elections office was beefed up and the Secretary of State acknowledged the National Guard was on alert.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Florida national guard is activating a number of soldiers who will be available to assist the state, standing by to assist local law enforcement and their communities as needed,” said Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee.

One lawsuit was filed by and incumbent Hillsborough County judge who was eliminated in the primary.

Elections experts told us more suits will come.

How many depends on how close the results.

“Both sides are going to be looking very closely at either finding votes, or un-finding votes. And that’s really what causes the litigation,” said attorney Lori Killinger.

There have been complaints of long lines in some counties, prompting some to call it voter intimidation, but the law says voters still in line when the polls close will be allowed to vote.

Under state law, all elections lawsuits must be filed in the state’s capital.

In anticipation, the chief judge there has added three judges to the civil bench, just in case there is a flood of suits.

Florida was the laughing stock of the nation in 2000 and three statewide recounts in 2018 changed the outcome of the Agriculture Commissioner’s race.

Changes to Florida law have basically solved the problems of twenty years ago, but this election won’t be over until it’s over.

Unlike other states, votes in Florida are already being counted and have been for weeks.

By 7:30 Tuesday night, local supervisors will post the results for the nine million votes already cast.

But as we learned in 2000, Election Day isn’t the end.

“There are no winners on election night. I don’t care what the media says. The winners are determined once we’ve counted all the votes. And it takes a lot of time to count all the votes,” said Mark Earley, Vice President of the Florida Supervisors of Elections.

Nationwide, half the states allow mail ballots to arrive after election day.

Florida does not.

Monday began with 1.3 million mail ballots still outstanding and thousands of those mail ballots were being delivered to drop boxes across the state throughout the day.

“Anything we get late in the day on Election Day likely we will not have a chance to get all of the signatures verified for that, so those will be in process and we’ll get to those either on Wednesday or Thursday after the election,” said Earley.

One of those mail ballots belongs to Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis.

“I’m going to walk it in. I’m going to bring it into the voting precinct,” said DeSantis.

Voters with spoiled mail ballots have until 5 pm Thursday to fix a bad signature or other problem.

“Overseas military. I think those are important votes,” said Earley.

More than 103,000 mail ballots were sent to military stateside and overseas.

Totals for how many have been returned are unknown.

“If they come in, they’ve got up until ten days for us to receive their ballot,” said Earley.

Any of a handful of things can change a close race, which means this election won’t be over till it’s over.

Totals for recounts in races separated by less than a half of percent aren’t due until nine days after the election.

Final results aren’t due from the counties until the following Sunday the 15th and Florida won’t officially certify the results until Tuesday, November 17th.

With 8.9 million Floridians having already cast their vote ahead of Election Day, only 450,000 voters would have to go to the polls Tuesday to match the turnout in 2016.

Florida is expected to see record turnout this year, but who will take the sunshine state is still up in the air.

Republicans had been inching closer to Democrats’ lead in votes cast over the past week, but failed to surpass it.

With Democrats still holding a 108,000 vote advantage, Steve Schale with the Biden-backing Unite the Country PAC is feeling confident going into Election Day.

“I like where we are. I mean obviously it’s trite to say it’s going to come down to turnout. It will come down to turnout tomorrow, I think Joe Biden has a real shot here,” said Schale.

But Republicans are confident they can close the gap with Election Day turnout.

“This is when we turn on the afterburners. This is when our voters, they prefer to vote in person on Election Day traditionally. They’re going to come out in waves. I mean it’s going to be overwhelming tomorrow,” said Christian Ziegler, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

63 percent of Florida voters have already cast their ballots.

If 3.1 million show up to the polls on Election Day the state will have surpassed the previous turnout record set in 1992.

“The more people that vote the better it is for democracy and frankly, the more people that vote probably the better it is for Joe Biden,” said Schale.

Polling shows Democrats hold the advantage among the 1.9 million independent voters who have already voted, but Republicans won the registration battle.

“I just think we have more voters on the table than Democrats did in 2016 and I think that’s thanks to the Governor investing in registering voters and putting us in a position where we’re able to turnout our voters and Democrats have already turned out their voters,” said Evan Power, Chairman of Chairs for the Republican Party of Florida.

When Florida’s race is called it could seal the fate of the election.

A Biden victory here would make a second term for Trump nearly impossible.

The parties hope we’ll have an answer Tuesday night.

Polling averages from Real Clear Politics shows Biden holding a one point advantage over Trump in Florida.

In 2016, Trump led by two tenths of a point going into Election Day, but ultimately came out 1.2 percent ahead in the results.

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.