Turnout light, but steady in Palm Beach as voters cast their ballots on Election Day

(This story was updated to add new information.)

With more than 60% of Palm Beach's registered voters casting their ballots early in the 2024 General Election, turnout was light — yet steady — at the polls Tuesday.

Town residents faced a variety of choices on their ballots, from president and vice president to state representative and sheriff.

One of the most important in the minds of voters, however, was Amendment 4.

The measure, if approved by 60% of voters, would enshrine the right to abortion in Florida’s constitution. 

On Tuesday, both supporters and opponents of the amendment gathered at the town's three voting precincts to rally for their positions on the measure.

Victoria Woolley, who voted at St. Edward Parish Hall, said she she showed up at the polls to vote against Amendment 4.

Woolley, who placed a "Vote No on 4" sign on church grounds that was later removed, said the amendment was "a moral issue wrapped up as a political issue by the left."

Palm Beacher Melissa Ceriale, who has lived in town for more than 20 years, took the opposite stance on Amendment 4.

Ceriale, the Democratic Party precinct leader for the Mandel Recreation Center, handed out materials to voters on Tuesday morning.

The biggest topic of discussion, she said, was Amendment 4.

“It’s a nonpartisan issue,” she said. “That’s what we’re really trying to emphasize.” 

In addition to protecting reproductive freedom, Ceriale said that Florida's current strict rules governing abortions have had a ripple effect throughout the health care system.  

"This is the first year medical residency programs here went unfilled," she said. 

Susan Ainslie, Lisa Rodman, and Kathleen Crampton also worked to marshal support for Amendment 4.

They are a part of a local group, the "coffee ladies," who have actively supported the Amendment 4 campaign through petitioning and advocacy.

"I went through this back in the '60s and '70s, and I honestly thought this was put to bed and women can get the services they needed," Crampton said while sitting across the street from the St. Edward Parish Hall voting precinct. "If you don't want to have an abortion, don't have an abortion."

Fellow coffee lady Ginny Kapner, who sat at a table outside the South Fire-Rescue Station polling location Tuesday morning, praised the group for its bipartisan advocacy work in defense of Amendment 4.

"It's been really wonderful in that way," she said. "To me, it makes perfect sense considering Amendment 4's support for individual liberty."

Palm Beach residents who did not vote by mail or in person during the early voting period that ended Sunday have the opportunity to cast their ballots at the town's three polling locations — St. Edward Parish Hall at 165 N. County Road; the Mandel Recreation Center at 340 Seaview Ave.; and the South Fire-Rescue Station at 2185 S. Ocean Blvd.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.

At the Mandel Recreation Center, the scene was festive Tuesday prior to former President Donald Trump's appearance.

Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, voted just before noon Tuesday alongside his wife, Melania.

Dozens of members of the press, including international media, descended upon the narrow Seaview Avenue to cover the occasion. 

Palm Beach residents wove through campaign workers, reporters, camera operators and supporters of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to find their way to the Recreation Center to vote. At the facility's tennis courts, the occasional thwack of a tennis ball could be heard as play there continued throughout the morning. 

To vote at the Recreation Center, voters have to pass law enforcement officers to go inside, where their information will be checked.

Sylvia James, who has lived in Palm Beach for about 40 years, walked from her home south of Worth Avenue with her dog Louis, arriving at the Recreation Center to vote at about 9 a.m. 

“It was very simple,” she said of voting in the Recreation Center. “It wasn’t crowded in there.”

She turned to look at the crowd of reporters and gestured to them. “A lot of crowding out here though,” she said, before heading home. 

James declined to share for whom she voted, but Palm Beach resident Skira Watson told the Daily News she cast her ballot for Trump.

"This is a country who's really at the edge," said Watson, who voted at St. Edward Parish Hall. "We are so close to becoming, first, socialist. Then the next step is Communism. We pray to God. I'm Lithuanian. I was born in Lithuania, and we came here to the greatest country in the universe. The biggest gift that is given to us is a free vote. Each person in this country, his or her vote counts. That's what it is. We're praying for America."

This year's election includes choices for president and vice president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state representative, sheriff, Port of Palm Beach, state attorney, Supervisor of Elections and Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Voters also will make choices on judges, Constitutional Amendments and a half-penny sales tax that would support local schools.

As polls opened Tuesday morning, nearly 5,000 of Palm Beach's 7,659 registered voters already had cast their ballots, according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office. Of those voters, about 55% voted by mail.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, 6,429 voters on the island had cast their ballots, with 1,703 of those cast on Election Day, according to the Supervisor of Elections. The town's turnout rate stood at 84%

In the 2020 General Election, the town's overall turnout rate was 82%, according to the Supervisor of Elections. Trump, who was then the incumbent president, got 56% of the town's votes in that election, securing 3,821 votes to then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden's 2,988 votes. Trump won five of the town's seven voting precincts, with Biden prevailing in Palm Beach's two southernmost precincts.

In Palm Beach County, more than 570,000 of the county's 896,000 eligible voters cast their ballots before Election Day, according to the Supervisor of Elections. By 3 p.m., that figure had increased to more than 699,000. Turnout stood at just over 78%.

Voters who plan to cast their ballots Tuesday must bring at least one valid form of identification that includes their signature and photo. Some acceptable forms of identification include a driver's license, a student ID, a U.S. passport, a Florida ID card, a military ID or a government-issued employee ID.

Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Main Office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, or to any branch office by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.