JACKSONVILLE — Senator Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, visited the University of North Florida Monday to kick-off the first day of early voting.
After a brief halt in her day of campaigning in Orlando and Jacksonville due to two people associated with the campaign testing positive for coronavirus, she joined Duval County residents at a voter mobilization event attended by carloads of people.
Harris emphasized the importance of voting and the role Florida will play in this year’s election. She added that the American people are faced with two choices when voting.
“Joe Biden, who is dedicated to building on the success that he and President Barack Obama created with the Affordable Care Act, which brought healthcare to over 20 million people,” Harris said, “On the other hand, you have Donald Trump in the United States Supreme Court trying to sue against the Affordable Care Act.”
If the Trump administration is successful in its legal challenges to the ACA, these 20 million people with pre-existing health condition will lose their coverage provided under the act.
“When we vote, we win,” Harris told carloads of people Monday at UNF’s Herbert Center.
Florida shattered early voting Monday with more than 350,000 ballots cast, according to Politico. Mail-in ballots also reached a record number with more than 2.5 million ballots, more than double of the 1.2 million submitted during this time in 2016.
Jacksonville has been known for voting red but, for the first time in recent political history, Democrats won during the 2018 midterm elections. They are hoping to replicate this same victory for the 2020 general election that takes place two weeks from today.
News4Jax, the only local media outlet to interview Harris on Monday, discussed in great detail the impact COVID-19 has made across the country. During the interview, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate — the first woman of color to be on a major party ticket, and a proud graduate of Howard University — stated that she is concerned that the stimulus package for people who have been suffering during the pandemic is being held up by Congress.
“Everything is on the ballot in 2020,” Harris said.
Early voting will end on Nov. 1 and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Florida A&M University is hosting one of the 10 early voting centers in Leon County. The on-campus polling place is located in the Student Union Multipurpose Room C. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.