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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.

The Presidential race is tightening in Florida, with recent polls showing a near tie.

Both Biden and Trump’s campaigns are making multiple stops in the Sunshine State this week before the final presidential debate, but the outcome is more uncertain than ever.

Stopping at a Black Voices for Trump rally in Florida’s capital city, the Trump Campaign wrapped up another day of its fourth bus tour through the state.

On the bus, we spoke with Congressman Matt Gaetz, who said reaching minority voters has been a central focus of the President’s reelection bid.

“The policies of the Trump administration have benefited every community and we’re grateful for the diverse coalition we have,” said Gaetz.

Kamala Harris also made stops in Jacksonville and Orlando this week.

Biden Campaign Surrogate Dianne Williams-Cox was in Jax and is confident in Biden’s support from minority voters.

“We need to unify. We need to come back together. We need to build back better and we can do it,” said Williams-Cox.

Neither the Biden or Trump campaign expects the late breaking New York Post story alleging the Vice President played a role in his son’s foreign business ties to make a difference in the final results.

“I think many people are saying, ‘what article’? We’ve seen this played out before. You know, the Hillary emails, the ‘this’ and the ‘that’,” said Williams-Cox.

American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp said social media’s response to the story is evidence the Trump campaign is fighting a two front battle.

“It was basically almost impossible to find this article online as soon as it broke. Why? Because they’re trying to use their corporate money to make sure Joe Biden is elected President,” said Schlapp.

Both the Trump and Biden campaigns have acknowledged the possibility of post election lawsuits in the event of a close race.

But both expect a smooth election here in Florida.

Biden and Trump face off in the final presidential debate at 9 pm Thursday.

Debate topics include, COVID-19, race relations, American families, climate change, national security and leadership.

Across Florida thousands of mail in ballots are already getting a second look by election canvassing officials after voters mis-marked their ballots, changed their minds or chose to waste their votes.

Under Florida law, Canvassing boards include the local Supervisor of Elections, a county judge, and the Chair of the County Commission, but substitutions are allowed if one of the officers is unavailable, or a candidate on the ballot.

Right now, those boards in every county are saving thousands of voters from their own mistakes.

“The last one didn’t go through the machine because they put their I voted sticker on the ballot,” said Mary Ann Lindley, a member of the canvasing board in Leon County.

We observed the Leon County canvassing board in action and took away some key lessons.

Lesson number one: Don’t vote for more than one Candidate in a race.

“Two people for this Presidential. Three people for this Presidential,” said Lindley.

In that case, Joe Biden lost two votes; Trump one.

Lesson two: Don’t use red ink
“That’s basically invisible ink, so we’re very clear on how the voter intended to vote and we are able to remark it for them,” said Holly Thompson on the Leon Elections staff.

Lesson three: Try to be as clear as possible.

“So just be very solid. Those light little ball point pen marks are hard to read,” said Lindley.

On one ballot we saw, the voter tried to erase their first choice.

On another, Joe Biden’s name was bubbled in, but then there was a write in for Will Farrell.

In that case, the board voted to count the Biden vote.

The final lesson: if you plan to vote by mail, don’t wait.

“Don’t mail it to us any later than October 27th, but I would advise you if you are going through the mail, sooner than that,” said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley.

And if you do vote by mail, you can check online to see if your vote has been counted, and if not, fix any problems.

What’s clear after watching the canvassing board, is that its members go out of their way to make sure the intent of the voter is understood.

In a last minute memo sent to Supervisors of Elections, Governor Ron DeSantis has said all mail ballot drop off boxes must be staffed at all times.

But supervisors question whether the guidance is enforceable and voting groups say the late advice is likely to sew confusion.

If you want to drop off your vote by mail ballot in person, you’ll likely put it in a secure drop box at an early voting site.

The state, in an effort to protect these boxes says they must be staffed by a law enforcement officer or a Supervisor of Elections employee at all hours.

“Having an armed security guard sitting next to the drop box during off hours, that might intimidate some voters,” said Patricia Brigham, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

The memo went out just five days before the start of early voting.

“Why are they just issuing this now?” said Brigham.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley already staffs his drop boxes, but said that isn’t necessarily the case statewide.

“Some people hadn’t planned on doing that because they maybe didn’t think that was necessary,” said Earley.

He is skeptical there is enough time for those supervisors to change their game plan.

“Trying to give guidance at the very last minute, it’s not real helpful,” said Earley. “It’s certainly going to be difficult to put that, ‘requirement’ out there at the very last minute yeah. We saw a need and so we started working on this weeks ago.”

The memo from the state suggested guarding drop boxes will prevent voter intimidation and possible vandalism of ballots.

And Earley said the state makes a decent point, since many drop boxes are outside this year because of the pandemic.

“But again it all kind of all depends on the situation that each county has at hand,” said Earley.

State statute does require drop boxes be staffed during operating hours if they are located at a site not officially designated for early voting.

Whether that rule applies to all drop boxes at all hours is where interpretations between supervisors and the state split.

We asked the Department of State if it has any enforcement authority if a supervisor does not staff a drop box, but did not receive an answer in time for this story.

Florida’s Division of Elections is telling Election Supervisors it will begin identifying registered voters who are ineligible because they haven’t paid off all their financial obligations related to past felony convictions.

However, their removal from the rolls isn’t likely before November third.

The Division of Elections sent an email to Florida’s 67 election supervisors, informing them the division will be reviewing the eligibility of registered voters with past felony convictions to determine whether they still owe debts related to their sentence.

Craig Latimer, Florida Supervisors of Elections President said once a registration is contested, the process of removing a voter from the rolls can take up to two months.

“Quite frankly, there’s going to be nobody that should be taken off the roll with us being 19 days out from an election,” said Latimer.

But Patricia Brigham, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida worries the message sent by the state could have other consequences.

“This is a clear effort to intimidate voters and to sew doubt in the minds of our returning citizens,” said Brigham.

Election supervisors we spoke with said as long as you are registered and honestly believe you are eligible to vote, you can do so.

Even if the state raises questions about your eligibility.

And Leon County Election Supervisor Mark Earley said once your vote is cast, it will be counted.

“Once we receive a ballot and tabulate a ballot it’s counted and you can’t take those results back out because it’s mixed in with all the other ballots. You know, voting is anonymous,” said Earley.

Whether a legal challenge may be waged to contest the election results based on felon votes is an open question.

But there is at least one case from 2016 where a similar challenge failed.

The 2016 case involved a Putnam County Sheriff’s race where 32 felons voted.

A county judge ruled the votes should still be counted because the felons were lawfully registered when their ballots were cast.

New unemployment numbers released today show 20 of 24 metro areas in the state gained jobs during September, even as the jobless rate climbed three tenth’s of a percent.

The state’s high unemployment will result in more benefits for the unemployed, but not until after the first of the year.

770,000 people remained unemployed in September.

Businesses added 36,000 more jobs and government another 11,0000.

“This figure is down 456,000 jobs from a year ago. This represents an over the year decline of 5.1 percent,” said DEO economist Adrienne Johnston.

Eight out of ten industries gained jobs.

Only other services and construction declined.

“Hiring began to rebound in May with 359,000 hires,” said Johnston.

The jobless survey was conduced Sept 12, so that means it didn’t capture hotel and theme park layoffs that have been announced since then.

“I’m certain it’s going to go back up again. There’s way too many folks who have been laid off and furloughed, both,” said State Senator Linda Stewart.

Under state law, the average unemployment for July, August and September are used to calculate how many weeks of benefits the state will pay.

Florida will go from paying just 12 to a total of 19 weeks.

“The new duration of benefits will go into effect on January one,” said Johnston.

But benefits are likely to be the most hotly contested issue when lawmakers meet in March.

“If we don’t end COVID, people won’t go or be asked to go back to work, and people won’t visit the parks,” said Stewart.

And one of the reasons the jobless rate went up in September is because people who were frustrated and stopped looking for a job are once again on the search.

That makes them unemployed instead of discouraged.

Florida’s unemployment rate remains three tenth’s of a percent below the national average.

The number of increased weeks for benefits is subject to change based on any revisions to the September data.

When it comes to vote by mail, Democrats are vastly out performing Republicans based on the 2 million ballots cast so far.

While the mail ballot return rate and polls lean in Biden’s favor, neither party is ready to call the race just yet.

Democrats have returned more than one million mail ballots ahead of the General Election, outperforming Republicans by more than 400,000.

Democrats also have 400,000 more outstanding mail ballots than Republicans.

How many end up returning them could make a huge difference.

Florida GOP Chair and State Senator Joe Gruters believes in-person voting will be where his candidate shines.

“Our voters are, you know, typical old-fashioned. They like to go in person and have their voices heard,” said Gruters.

Even Steve Shale, head of the ‘Unite the County’ Super Pac backing Joe Biden isn’t ready to call the race for his candidate.

“There are 400,000 more absolutely certain Republican voters than Democrats yet to vote. So right now if you take that with the early voting you basically have a partisan tie,” said Schale.

Republicans see their advantage in new voter registrations, which Gruters believes will be about 200,000 more than Democrats when the final tally comes out.

“I’d rather have more voters to go after than just shifting when my voters vote. We know our voters are going to vote,” said Gruters.

But Biden has advantages in some key demographics.

“He’s doing better with Democrats than Hilary Clinton did, he’s doing better with Republicans and better with independents. So if we’re in a tie situation that probably benefits my guy a little bit,” said Schale.

In the end, as the GOP Chairman put it, this election will be decided not by persuading voters to change their minds, but by parties turning out their base.

And both are clearly energized this year.

Most polls still show Joe Biden leading Trump in Florida.

At this time during the 2016 Presidential race, polls showed Trump with a slight advantage in the Sunshine State.

The Economic Club of Florida was one of just six in the nation who got special treatment from President Donald Trump Wednesday.

The President did a live stream Q&A from the Rose Garden after speaking on what he’s done for the economy during his first term.

Viewers in Tallahassee watched in the private Governor’s Club in the shadow of the state Capitol.

In some of his first words, the President predicted economic doom if he’s not re-elected.

“That’s what you’ll have, a depression. I will deliver optimism, opportunity, and growth.They will deliver pessimism, stagnation, decline and very high taxes,” said Trump.

He didn’t mince words about his accomplishments.

“Income for Black Americans grew nine times more during my leadership that during the eight years before I took office,” said Trump.

And he defended his handling of the pandemic

“We reduced the fatality rate 85 percent since April,” said Trump.

Democratic State Legislator Carlos Smith believes the President’s words on recovery are premature.

“How can you say, oh, look, look at how I’ve been able to help the economy bounce back as Disney issues as press release saying they are laying off 2,000 employees,” said Rep. Smith.

Reaction from those in the room was positive, but remember, no one who came was undecided before it started.

“The Democrats haven’t offered anything different. When this whole thing started, Nancy Pelosi said let’s go down to Chinatown. The Vice President called him xenophobic,” said Barney Bishop, who considers himself a conservative leaning Democrat.

In person attendance was sparse.

“We had close to 2,000 people attend nationwide, but we could have had many more if we had more time,” said Florida Economic Club President Cindy O’Connel.

But the fact the President spent so much time for a small audience clearly shows he things every vote matters.

The event got the go ahead late Saturday.

The President also gave a shout out to Governor Ron DeSantis for his efforts at cutting drug prices paid by the state under legislation passed last year.

15,595 Floridians have died of COVID-19 according to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of Health, but a new analysis of COVID-19 death certificates conducted by the Florida House of Representatives suggests the count may be inflated.

The outgoing House Speaker asked fellow legislators to consider the report when making policy decisions.

The analysis by the Florida House suggested the state’s COVID-19 death toll may be inflated by as much as ten percent.

It looked at death certificates and found nearly 60 percent had errors or were recorded out of line with state and national guidance.

Based on the latest statistics, a ten percent inflation would mean the Department of Health over counted by about 1,400 deaths.

Republican Representative Randy Fine, who has recovered from a battle with COVID-19, said a ten percent discrepancy is actually reassuring.

“The Speaker’s work sort of demonstrates that the numbers are largely right.I mean if it was 1,200 instead of 12,000 you might go, ‘oh wow’. But you know, being off by ten percent, it’s still a huge effect and it’s still something we have to take seriously,” said Rep. Fine.

Democratic Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith criticized the House Speaker for focusing House resources on nitpicking death certificates and not on what he considers more pressing issues.

“Fixing our broken unemployment system, expanding Medicaid to people who have lost their job and have no health insurance, small business relief to family-owned operations that have closed their doors forever. The Florida Legislature has done zero,” said Rep. Smith.

The Legislature has not convened since the pandemic began in March.

They won’t return to the Capitol until their organizational session two weeks after the election.

We reached out to House Speaker Jose Oliva to ask about the House analysis, but did not receive a response.

Firearm purchase background checks conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show a record number of Floridians are taking up arms this year.

Gun industry insiders told us civil unrest and the election have created a perfect storm for increased demand.

More than 1.1 million background checks have been conducted since the start of 2020.

With two an half months left to go in the year, it’s already smashed the previous record set in 2016.

“We’ve seen a unprecedented number of people coming and buying guns,” said Charlie Strickland, owner of Talon Tactical Outfitters in Midway Florida.

Strickland said it’s not necessarily typical gun buyers stocking up.

“Huge numbers of minorities and women and those numbers are growing,” said Strickland.

He said a combination of civil unrest, threats to law enforcement funding and the election are the primary factors for the uptick.

“The increase in concern has caused a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum; we see a lot of people who are very liberal on a lot of subjects that are in here buying guns to protect themselves,” said Strickland.

Republican State Senator Dennis Baxley shares the same feelings, particularly on the election issue.

“When you have a candidate that’s up there declaring, ‘I’m going to take your guns’ you know you better buy some now while you can,” said Baxley.

People aren’t just buying more guns.

They’re also paying for training.

More than 80,000 have applied for concealed carry permits since the start of the year.

“Our training classes are booked out for months in advance and people are coming in wanting to learn how to use, not just buy guns, learning how to use the firearms within the laws,” said Strickland. “That’s a good thing for all of us.”

Whether gun purchases continue to rise or fall may rest on the outcome of election.

If Biden wins, the industry anticipates a surge of panic buying.

If Trump wins, there could also be a spike, if civil unrest continues.

Strickland also noted the pandemic has limited the supply of guns and ammunition, which may also be contributing to the increased demand and would likely persist no matter the outcome of the election.