Despite millions of mail-in ballots, voting is steady on Election Day

South Floridians still love to vote the old-fashioned way: on Election Day. Voters lined up outside polling places on Tuesday, a surprising phenomenon to many who believed most interested citizens had cast their ballots early.

In recent weeks, millions voted early in person and by mail. Floridians had a lot of issues on their minds, including rising inflation, high energy and housing costs, crime, taxes, abortion and gun rights, immigration and the overall competence of government in Washington, Tallahassee and at the local level.

Still, Sun Sentinel reporters who fanned out across Broward and Palm Beach counties found steady participation throughout the day. In West Boca, the line to vote wrapped around the building at Loggers’ Run Middle School, where voters waited about 45 minutes to cast their ballots. As the morning went by, the parking lot kept filling up.

Occasionally there was confusion. In Pompano Beach, voters said they couldn’t find a polling place at St. Coleman Catholic Church at 1200 S. Federal Highway.

Some peered inside the church, while others checked out a school on the east side of the parking lot behind the church, where a Broward Sheriff’s office vehicle sat with its emergency lights flashing.

The balloting actually took place at the church’s “Holy Family Center,” a building south of the sanctuary with two rear entrances. Upon arrival, a poll worker directed Fort Lauderdale residents through one door and Pompano Beach residents through another to cast their ballots.

Meanwhile, the state of Florida duked it out with the U.S. Justice Department, which sought to send its monitors inside polling places on Tuesday. The federal agency announced 64 American voting jurisdictions, including Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, were being screened for compliance with federal civil rights laws.

Wendy Sartory Link, Palm Beach County’s elections supervisor, said she had been working with Justice Department staffers on Monday to show them how voting precincts were complying with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But after receiving a notice from the state later in the day, she said they wouldn’t be allowed inside polling places on Election Day.

“We’ll tell them they can’t come in,” she said. “If there’s a problem, I’ll tell them to let me know, and I’ll check it out.”

Broward Elections Supervisor Joe Scott spoke with DOJ officials on Tuesday and they agreed not to enter Broward polling sites, spokesman Ivan Castro said.

Brad McVay, the Florida Department of State’s general counsel, told the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Monday that Florida law specifying who is allowed inside a polling place does not include federal staffers.

[ Election 2022: Submit confidential tips about voting issues in Florida ]

At least a half-dozen Broward voters interviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday morning mentioned how Americans need to be more respectful to each other and how political divisiveness has reached a concerning level.

“It’s gotten scary,” said Richard Jones, 67, adding that he hasn’t seen this intense level of hate in decades.

Stephany Gallo, 40, arrived at the Tree Tops Park polling place in Davie in the early morning with a mission.

[ RELATED: ‘Voting for safety’: Parkland survivors and activists embark on Election Day bus tour against gun violence ]

“I want to make a difference,” she said. Issues such as abortion, the economy and global politics are top of mind, she said. “I am unhappy with both extremes,” she said. Gallo is originally from the Dominican Republic and is now a U.S. citizen. She feels it is important to vote in every U.S. election.

Johanna Navas, 55, originally from Nicaragua but now a South Broward resident, says she feels it’s important to vote and has been doing so in the U.S. for 20 years. She tends to vote Republican, but says she wants to see balance. She may vote for both parties.

“It’s not one or the other. I think we need balance at this time.” She doesn’t want anyone to question the election. “I believe in liberty. Every voice has to count.”

Angela Beamer, 36, arrived at her polling site holding her 8-year-old daughter’s hand. Education is top of mind for the young mother. She came to the poll to have a say on school board elections and on the public schools referendum.

“I have read up on the school board members, what they have done and what they stand for,” she said. “In the past, school funding and school safety hasn’t been managed that well.”

Dylan Jones, 25, said he wants change. “I’m getting older and I want to get more involved in the process.” Jones said 2020 was his first time voting. Now he is voting out most of the incumbents. “Change is good.”

Jordan Parker, 23, says he came to vote out Republicans.

“I don’t like DeSantis for many reasons,” he said. Parker referred to DeSantis spending tax dollars to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, his stance on an abortion ban after 15 weeks, and his firing of a state worker during the pandemic over COVID death counts. “I am a political science major so I pay attention to politics,” he said.

Martha and Donald Howard, 64, said they are unhappy with the way the economy is going, gas prices and food costs rising and the stock market plunging. The Davie couple voted Republican all the way down the ticket.

The couple has eight grandchildren, and they want to see certain books banned from schools. “Some of the books present way too much information for young kids,” Donald said. He is a retired physician and says he also opposes mandated vaccines and liked how DeSantis handled the pandemic.

Hollywood widow Ann Ralston, 69, says her vote went to Charlie Crist for governor. “He won’t ban books,” she said. “He’ll let me have control over my own body. And I don’t want Jeanette Nunez for governor. DeSantis is going to run for president in two years. And then she’ll become governor.”

Richard Levis, 60, of Hollywood, said his vote went to Ron DeSantis. “I’m not going to wear that mask,” Levis said. “I think he ought to stay as governor the full four years. That’s what I hired him for, to stick around.”

Levis skipped voting for anyone in the School Board race. “They’re all the same,” he said. “They’re so far to the left.”

[ RELATED: Republicans ahead in early and mail voting as candidates making Election Eve push in South Florida ]

Staff writer Susannah Bryan contributed to this story.