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    • Voting official denies Melania Trump rumor
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    Voting official denies Melania Trump rumor

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    Check here throughout the day for live updates on the 2024 General Election in Palm Beach County.

    (This story was updated to add new information.)

    Palm Beach County voters, including one who’s on the presidential ticket, flocked to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 general election. This Election Day marks the end of a contentious campaign season, both in national races and local ones.

    Polls closed at 7 p.m. The vote count is expected to extend beyond election night.

    In the meantime, Palm Beach Post journalists are stationed around the county to report on vote tallies, candidate watch parties, last-minute campaign activities and announcements from election officials. Check here for updates throughout the evening.

    ➤ 2024 Florida General Election Results

    Palm Beach County saw razor-tight races and landslide victories alike. See the vote tallies here: Palm Beach County 2024 General Election Results

    During a 5:30 p.m. press briefing, and with fewer than two hours remaining to cast a ballot, Palm Beach County’s Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link dismissed local TV reports that incorrectly said some polling locations in Palm Beach Gardens would remain open until 8 p.m. They will close at 7 p.m.

    Link did not elaborate on where or why the rumor began. She also dismissed online speculation over whether Donald Trump enlisted a body-double to pose as his wife, Melania, during his appearance at a Palm Beach polling site Tuesday morning.

    “I went over, obviously that’s a high-profile voter, and I wanted to make sure that everything was smooth,” Link said. “It went very smoothly.”

    She said both Trump and Melania presented their IDs before voting on paper ballots. She added that Melania removed her sunglasses when she voted.

    — Anne Geggis, The Palm Beach Post

    Marvella Coleman of Lake Park voted Tuesday evening at the Lindsey Davis Community Center in Riviera Beach. Coleman said she voted for Kamala Harris, citing the economy as one of the most important issues in this year’s election.

    “High prices need the be brought down,” she said. “It’s hard trying to make a living. It takes four or five incomes nowadays.”

    — Julius Whigham II, The Palm Beach Post

    One ballot item that appears to be energizing many Florida voters this year: Amendment 3, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state.

    Walking out of the voting site at the Palmwood Lodge in West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach resident Alexander Schultz said that it was the item he was most enthusiastic to vote for on this year’s ballot. He said he voted ‘yes’ to legalizing recreational use of the drug.

    “I never felt like it was a particularly dangerous drug,” he said. “I think it’s a lot safer than alcohol.”

    The proposed state constitutional amendment would require approval from 60% of voters to take effect.

    The Palmwood Lodge, where Schultz cast his ballot, is near Southern Boulevard and Parker Avenue. The voting site was quiet throughout the afternoon, with little to no wait to cast a ballot.

    — Andrew Marra, The Palm Beach Post

    By mid-afternoon Tuesday, few voters visited Penial Haitian Baptist Church of Lake Worth. The line was longer during the morning, an election deputy said, but even then, it did not reach beyond the entrance gates.

    Shawna Byirt, a Democrat who cast her ballot in the afternoon, said she voted to make a change. Too many people complain about politics but don’t vote, she said. Her attitude: “You can’t say s*** if you don’t vote!”

    Another voter, Starlet Sato, said she voted for Trump and Republicans in part because of abortion.

    “I think there needs to be some limitations on it,” said Sato, who added that she is friends with women who have had abortions.

    Sato said she voted Yes on the abortion amendment because she believed it would impose reasonable limitations on the procedure.

    — Chris Persaud, The Palm Beach Post 

    Edward Branch, 59, sat on a park bench outside the Pleasant City Community Center in West Palm Beach on Tuesday as voters filtered in and out, but he won’t be casting a ballot this year. 

    Branch, who says he is homeless and living on the streets of the city’s oldest African-American community, is hoping to have his voting rights restored after losing them to a criminal conviction.

    His lack of voting muscle, however, doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of the current political environment and what’s at stake in the race between Harris and Trump. He said he’s fearful Trump is too friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and although he thinks women can make decisions based too much on emotion, he’s hoping Harris wins. 

    “I just think this lady is a better representative,” Branch said. “We don’t need Trump in there. He should understand why that is after two attempts on his life. That should tell you something.” 

    — Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post

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    Dozens with Trump flags at busy Naples intersection

    Trump supporters hit the street in North Naples

    More than 300 high school and college-aged students were stationed around the county at polling places Tuesday as part of the Supervisor of Elections’ student greeter program. 

    Students, paid $170, were able to earn community service hours by signing up for the program, which assigned them to their local polling places from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. 

    Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link said the program is designed to help students understand the elections process better and to station friendly young faces at polling places. Students between the ages of 16 and 22 were trained to hand out flyers with links to voters’ sample ballots.

    In Martin County: Teenager wearing Trump shirt charged with punching Harris supporter, 70

    But the program, extended to include high school students this year, may come as a concern to students or parents worried about security at polling places. 

    Asked about the security of the students, a spokesperson from the Supervisor of Elections Office said Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies will be patrolling on Election Day and could assist if poll workers or greeters had any issues. 

    — Katherine Kokal, The Palm Beach Post 

    West Palm Beach resident Colleen Sullivan, 58, said she’s lost friends because they disagree with her support for Trump as president, but she steadfastly stands behind this year’s Republican nominee. 

    She said there is value in having different opinions and believes people can be friends despite who they cast a ballot for. 

    “All my gay friends hate him, and my friends in New York, they don’t talk to me anymore,” Sullivan said after voting Tuesday at Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach. “I say, ‘Let’s talk about this,’ but then people choose to unfriend someone who they have been lifelong friends with.”

    Sullivan, who believes Election Day should be a national holiday, chose to wait to vote until Tuesday because she said she’s a traditionalist and worries that mail-in ballots are too easy to manipulate. Also, she likes chatting with neighbors while waiting to vote. 

    “What’s wrong with getting a little networking done?” Sullivan said. 

    Although the traffic to vote was steady at Belvedere Elementary, she said there were no lines inside and voting was “easy peasy.” 

    Others were more reluctant to discuss their vote. A 26-year-old new West Palm Beach resident named Reed did not want to give his last name or divulge who he voted for, saying it was a personal decision. 

    “You don’t want it in the wrong peoples’ hands,” he said.

    — Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post

    Canvassers at the Jupiter Community Center polling location reminisced Tuesday on the verbal confrontations they saw last week, some of which pit Republicans against Republicans.

    Tammy Hopkins, a canvasser encouraging people to vote for Ric Bradshaw for sheriff, said the biggest point of tension was not between Democrats and Republicans.

    One group of Trump supporters accused another group of Trump supporters of being “RINOs” — Republicans in name only — when they held signs or passed out voting guides supporting Bradshaw for sheriff and Wendy Sartory Link for elections supervisor, she said. Both are Democrats.

    Outside the community center was a sign in profane language, telling “Trump and DeSantis did not endorse Democrats.” Near it, a Trump mannequin held a sign with the words “VOTE DOWN BALLOT.”

    Hopkins said people wearing Trump gear yelled “You’re not a real Trump person!” and “RINO!” at her multiple times last week while she stood holding Trump and Bradshaw signs. She said she was surprised by what she heard.

    More: West Palm Beach man accused of racist threats, voter intimidation at Loxahatchee polling site

    “I’ve been treated horribly by them,” said Hopkins, 44, who lives in Tequesta and said she voted for Trump. “It’s sad that the Republican groups are arguing.”

    However, Democrats and Republicans have gotten along pretty well at the community center, she said. Two canvassers nearby, both supporting Kamala Harris, agreed.

    Cindy Santner, a volunteer with the North County Democratic Club, greeted voters with another volunteer at the Jupiter Community Center. She called the section of the sidewalk their “safe corner” because Republicans and Democrats have been kind to each other in the time she spent there.

    “I voted for Harris because if Trump gets elected, it scares me,” said Santner, 69, of Jupiter. “I voted Democratic for my granddaughters. It’s their future and rights that are at stake.”

    — Maya Washburn, The Palm Beach Post

    At Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach, lines were short but concerns high among voters casting ballots for president. 

    Mary, 65, and her son Luke, 28, both of whom asked to be identified by their first names only, waited until Election Day so they could vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris together. Mary lives along Flagler Drive across from Mar-a-Lago, the residence and club of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump. 

    She doesn’t like seeing the boats in the Intracoastal Waterway guarding the property with guns mounted. She doesn’t like falsehoods being touted as truth that she feels is a theme in the Trump campaign. And, she said, she’s fearful, “no, terrified,” of what will come of the country if Trump is reelected.

    More: A prescription in favor of reducing Election Day stress that crosses political divides

    “I’ve been stressed out for months,” Mary said. “The news, rightfully so, is relentless. On a daily basis, I feel like my head is gong to exploded.”

    Both mother and son are concerned there is a higher propensity for violence during this election. 

    “We were here the first time, and there were people driving the big trucks and blaring music,” Luke said about Trump supporters. “It almost feels more dangerous now.”

    — Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post

    Former President Donald Trump voted at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Seaview Avenue in Palm Beach on Tuesday.

    Members of the media — including those from India, Portugal, Germany, Denmark and Japan — gathered early outside the Recreation Center to try to catch a glimpse of the Republican nominee for president.

    Supporters of the former president also gathered there prior to his arrival Tuesday. Some sat on a wall outside Palm Beach Public School, while others waited near the Recreation Center’s tennis courts. Some tennis players paused their games while waiting for Trump to appear.

    Read more: Trump votes in General Election at Palm Beach polling location

    The Trumps left the Recreation Center to make the drive home to Mar-a-Lago, where they reportedly will wait until about 10 p.m. Tuesday before heading to the Trump campaign’s Election Night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

    This marks the third time Trump has cast a ballot for himself in a General Election presidential race. His 2020 ballot at the Palm Beach County Library System’s Main Library made him the first incumbent president to vote in person as a Florida resident.

    — Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News

    Women voters in Palm Beach County are voting in much larger numbers than men so far, according to data provided by the Supervisor of Election’s Office.

    Democrats in Florida have said they expected higher than usual turnout by women — even among Republican women voters — because of the proposed constitutional amendment that would reverse tough limits on abortions passed by the GOP-led Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    By the numbers: In Palm Beach County, women voters came out in full force for early voting

    As of Monday morning, Nov. 4, more than 570,000 votes have been cast in the county, with 56% of them coming from women. Already, nearly 65% of registered voters have voted with more than 150,000 expected to do so in person on Election Day. Four years ago, 76% of registered voters voted.

    National polls have showed that women are breaking for Vice President Kamala Harris, but most statewide polls suggest that Trump has a comfortable lead in Florida. In his previous campaigns, Trump won Florida both times.

    — Mike Diamond, The Palm Beach Post

    Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

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