Tuesdays Are for Voting: Escambia Turnout Already Near 32 Percent, Santa Rosa Past 28, and the Polls Open at 7
Record early turnout has already banked nearly a third of Escambia County's vote and more than a quarter of Santa Rosa's. What remains is Tuesday itself: assigned precincts, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a mail-ballot deadline that is now in-person only.
The last day of the 2026 midterm campaign is a service day, and the numbers say Northwest Florida has not waited for it. Early and mail turnout had already hit nearly 32 percent of registered voters in Escambia County and just over 28 percent in Santa Rosa County as of 10 a.m. Monday, the Pensacola News Journal reported - record early turnout for a midterm in both counties, banked before a single Election Day ballot is cast. Florida voters statewide are deciding more than 2,955 positions, and the ballots in the two Panhandle counties carry the U.S. Senate race, the U.S. House race in Florida's 1st District, the governor's race, three constitutional amendments and the local races this desk has covered all fall.
Where and when is the part to get right. On Tuesday, voters vote at their assigned precinct - not at an early-voting site - any time between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and anyone still in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to cast a ballot. Escambia County voters should check the county's precinct finder before leaving home, because there have been temporary polling-location changes this cycle; the finder asks for a house number, then a street name. Santa Rosa County, which has no temporary changes, still asks voters to confirm their precinct through its voter registration lookup. Registration itself is closed - the deadline for this election passed on October 5.
One deadline has already changed shape: it is too late to mail a mail ballot. A ballot that goes in a mailbox now is not guaranteed to arrive, and Florida does not count late arrivals. The remaining route is in person - a completed mail ballot can be dropped at a secure ballot intake station until 7 p.m. Tuesday, including the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office at 213 Palafox Place, second floor, in Pensacola; the Main Library at 239 Spring Street; Escambia County Extension Services at 3740 Stefani Road in Cantonment; and Brownsville Community Center at 3200 West De Soto Street. After 7 p.m. Tuesday, the counting - not the voting - is what remains.
