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Election 2012
7:03 am
Tue November 6, 2012

Guide for the day: an Election Day timeline

The finish line is in sight as voters make their final decisions on Election Day. Here's a guide to key times of the day across the nation. Stay with NPR throughout the day as we follow the presidential race and key battles that will determine control of the House and Senate.

Join NPR to hear live coverage, which begins at 8 p.m. EST on NPR.org and many member stations.

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News
7:25 pm
Mon November 5, 2012

NEWSCAST: Lawsuit Over South Florida Voting Resolved

Credit SaraSue
Absentee Voting Continues Until Tuesday, November 6th at 7:00PM.

The federal lawsuit filed Sunday morning by the Florida Democratic Party over early voting was resolved late Monday afternoon. It stemmed in part from the long delays on the last official day of early voting in South Florida and that was technically on Saturday. The emergency      lawsuit was aimed at the supervisors of elections for Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The legal point is whether people could vote absentee in person -- and the long waits were preventing that. The judge has ruled voter

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Latino Vote
4:14 pm
Mon November 5, 2012

Expert Says Romney's Bad Latino Numbers Could Cost Him Swing States, Election

Credit Austen Hufford /Flickr
Mitt Romney could lose this election because of the Latino vote, a pollster says.

Any expert will tell you that this election comes down to a few swing states, including Florida.

However, within those key swing states is the all-powerful Latino vote, and experts say that this voting population could very likely cost Mitt Romney the election.

The Hill reports,

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The Campaign
3:20 pm
Mon November 5, 2012

Rarely-Seen Rick Scott Seizes Last Chance To Rally With Mitt Romney In Orlando

Close Approach: Governor Scott and Mitt Romney appeared at the same rally but not together.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott has been an invisible man on the campaign trail since the middle of August. But, on Monday, he reappeared at an Orlando airport rally for Mitt Romney.

His assignment? The man with the 39 percent approval rating was put in charge of "warming up" the crowd. The governor was on stage for two and half minutes and shared not a second of that time with Romney, who was making his final campaign appearance in Florida.

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Voting
2:00 pm
Mon November 5, 2012

How Facebook Got People To The Polls On Sunday

Credit Ashley Lopez / WLRN
People in Doral wait in a long line to vote in an impromptu voting location Sunday.

It was a last minute announcement made by Miami Dade Elections Officials, but somehow hundreds of voters showed up to vote this Sunday.

According to voters lined up that day, they have Facebook to thank for finding out about that impromptu voting day.

Last year, state lawmakers cut down early voting days and controversially eliminated the Sunday before Election Day.

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Paying For College
1:00 pm
Mon November 5, 2012

How Tuition Menu Could Lure Florida Students Into Math/Tech Careers

Tuition Idea: Should dancers pay more than engineers for their degrees?

Under a higher education plan now developing in Florida, you’d pay a lot more for a standard liberal arts degree than for one in science or the technologies.

It's Gov. Rick Scott's way of encouraging people to study for high-demand, economy-building careers.

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Florida
10:30 am
Mon November 5, 2012

Florida As Described By The New Yorker

Credit Willy Volk /Flickr

Florida may be center stage for this year's election, but its also a largely complicated and interesting place to outsiders during non-election years.

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Campaign Lies
9:30 am
Mon November 5, 2012

PolitiFact Breaks Down Some Less Than Accurate Ads For WLRN

Credit nasa hq photo/ Flickr
Sen. Bill Nelson's race against Connie Mack has devolved into some untruthful ads, PoliFact's Aaron Sharockman says.

We are in the homestretch of what will be another historic election that has the eyes of the nation on Florida.

Recently, PolitiFact Florida's Aaron Sharockman talked to WLRN's Phil Latzman about some of PolitiFact's final fact checks on races for Senate and President here in the biggest battleground state of all.

First, Sharockman says that the otherwise ho-hum U.S. Senate race between Sen. Bill Nelson and Connie Mack has produced some less than accurate ads.

"There are a lot of claims in this race... but a lot of them are misleading," he says.

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Voting
8:07 am
Mon November 5, 2012

How To Cast Post-Early Voting Ballot Today

Credit wikimedia
Got One Of These Yet? The official early voting period has expired but South Floridians can still cast pre-Election Day ballots.

After weekend confusion, a lawsuit and some serious voting miscues in Miami-Dade County on Sunday -- really, it was a mess -- South Florida elections supervisors are redefining "early voting" to allow people to cast ballots today.

What it means is, you'll be able to go to an elections supervisor's office, pick up an absentee ballot, fill it out and then turn it in.

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Listen To WLRN Miami Herald News
7:55 am
Mon November 5, 2012

NEWSCAST: President Campaigns In Hollywood

Credit Christine DiMattei / wlrn.org
A crowd of enthusiastic supporters of President Obama packed the grandstands and the football field at McArthur High School in Hollywood.
  • WLRN Miami Herald News

President Obama goes Hollywood in his last Florida appearance before election day as he tries to secure last-minute votes.

He spoke for about 25 minutes to a crowd of 23,000 supporters at McArthur High School.

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Listen To WLRN Miami Herald News
6:55 am
Mon November 5, 2012

NEWSCAST: Voting Chaos in Miami Dade

Credit Rusty Brick / Flickr/Creative Commons
Some voters waited in line for hours Sunday to cast an in-person absentee ballot.


The trouble started when voters were told Sunday in-person absentee voting was on, then it was called off leaving lots of voters in line crying foul. Eventually, the process was allowed to continue.

We breakdown what caused this voting fiasco in WLRN Miami Herald News.

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Breaking
12:08 pm
Sun November 4, 2012

You Can Still Vote on Sunday

Credit Ashley Lopez /WLRN
People stood in a five hour long line in West Dade Regional Library yesterday waiting to vote on the last day of early voting.

From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. today you can vote at the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections office.

Here is a press release from the Miami Dade Elections office,

In an effort to continue serving eager voters on the final Sunday before Election Day, the Elections Department is opening its doors to voters.

While state law does not permit Early Voting today, we are permitted to provide and accept absentee ballots.

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Early Voting
10:07 am
Sat November 3, 2012

Wilson's Voting Complaint Brings Federal Election Monitors To Miami-Dade

Credit Wilson web site
Word In His Ear: U. S. Rep. Frederica Wilson says GOP operatives are manipulating early voters to steal the election.

Election monitors from the U. S. Justice Department are on their way to Miami-Dade County to investigate reports of predatory voting "assistance" being offered by pro-Romney operatives to elderly voters in a north county precinct.

The Miami Herald reported this morning the complaints came from U. S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, whose district includes the polling station at North Miami Public Library:


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Listen To WLRN Miami Herald News
7:09 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

NEWSCAST: Early Voting Nears An End

Credit Jessica Meszaros
Some voters stood in line for hours to cast an early ballot in Kendall.

Early voting comes to a close Saturday, and some Floridians say the process has been anything but smooth.

However, we've been crunching the numbers and found things could be a lot worse.

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Foreclosure Crisis
5:06 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

(Some) Foreclosure Money Is On Its Way to Homeowners

Credit 401(K) 2012 /Flickr
Florida is finally going to spend money it was given for foreclosure relief.

Florida-- including South Florida--could finally be getting the millions of dollars it won in a settlement with big banks over bad mortgages and foreclosures. 

In the past several months about $300 million dollars given to Florida has been locked up in a battle between Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and the state Legislature. Each party claims that they have the authority to decide how the money is spent.

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Reptile Day
2:27 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Miami Science Museum Is Going To Teach You How To Eat Like A Lizard

Credit Ashley Lopez / WLRN
You can eat like a lizard if you go to Reptile Day at the Miami Science Museum.

Here's a break from the relentness news about this year's election.

For those of you not stuck in a long line on the last day of early voting on Saturday, you can distract yourself at the Miami Science Museum's Reptile Day.

Among the many activities they are putting together is a "live python animal presentation," a turtle race and an "eat like a reptile cooking demonstration."

Yes. You read right. There will be food served that is typically eaten by lizards.

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The Florida Roundup
2:00 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Into The Fray: Florida's Voting Issues And Ballot Measures

Credit Alicia Zuckerman
Early voters have faced long wait times. Above, voters at the Miami Beach City Hall.

Florida is ready to vote. Or is it?  Over 3 million Floridians have already voted early in person or by absentee ballot.  Early voting totals continue to be strong in mostly Democratic South Florida.  For many, lines at the polls are long, while still others wait by the mailbox for their absentee ballots.  

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Early Voting
1:04 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Miami-Dade Early Voting Lines Are Long, But They Could Be Worse

All week, early voters have been grumbling about the hours-long lines as they cast ballots before the deadline for the presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.    

Miami-Dade, in particular, has only 20 available early voting locations for the county’s 1.28 million registered voters. In other words: the ratio of voters to early polling places is about 64,000:1.

Granted, these voters won’t be there all at the same time, but it’s still a daunting number.

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Florida Roundup Live Chats
11:12 am
Fri November 2, 2012

LIVE CHAT: The Florida Roundup November 1, 2012

Voting early and by absentee has never been more popular. But for many, lines at the polls are long, while still others wait by the mailbox for their absentee ballots.

We’ll have the latest on the key races, what’s at stake with Florida’s 11 ballot amendments, and a final fact-check from Politifact Florida on the eve of an historic election in which the eyes of the nation are upon Florida, again.

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Absentee Ballots
11:00 am
Fri November 2, 2012

Palm Beach Sued Over Signature Issue on Absentee Ballots

Credit Morten Wulff/ Flickr
Palm Beach woman is suing her elections supervisor for not counting her absentee ballot.

Here at WLRN, we've gotten a report of at least one person was allowed to vote in South Florida because officials did not believe the signature on his ballot was indeed his.

A Broward election official said situations like this could be remedied by a voter simply updating their signature in person at the supervisor of elections office in the county they vote in.

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Partisan Politics
10:00 am
Fri November 2, 2012

Washington Post: Allen West and Alan Grayson Are 'Embodiment of Hyperpartisanship'

Credit Gage Skidmore /Flickr
Allen West and Alan Grayson could be facing each other as two of the most partisan politicians in the U.S. House.

Besides a contentious presidential election, Floridians are also voting on key congressional races this year. 

Among those races is former congressman Alan Grayson's possible return to the U.S. House, as well as Rep. Allen West's, R-Florida, re-election where he faces off newcomer Patrick Murphy.

Right now, Grayson is (very) well positioned to win his race. West has out-raised Murphy by millions of dollars and has an edge in the polls.

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Newscast
8:45 am
Fri November 2, 2012

NEWSCAST: 'Civil Citations' Headed To Leon County

Credit Chris Yarzab
Leon County will pilot a civil citation program, allowing officers to give tickets for some non-violent crimes.

Leon County will be the first in Florida to give law enforcement officers the ability to ticket adults for some minor crimes instead of arresting them.

That's if the crimes are non-violent and it's a first-time offense. Civil citations have been used with juvenile offenders instead of putting them behind bars, with success.  About 90 percent of kids who get citations and then go through a diversion program instead of to a lock-up, go on to stay out of trouble.  

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The Campaign
8:02 am
Fri November 2, 2012

Clinton Launching Florida Tour In Lake Worth

Credit Christine diMattei / wlrn.org
Lake Worth Early Birds: Even this late in the campaign, Bill Clinton draws crowds.

They’re lining up in Lake Worth this morning for their last chance to watch Bill Clinton campaign for President Obama. Clinton is beginning a five-stop Florida swing that will take him to Fort Myers, Palm Bay, St. Petersburg and Tallahassee before the day is over.

He's scheduled to speak at Palm Beach State College at 9 a. m.

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Election 2012
7:31 am
Fri November 2, 2012

Nope! Scott Won't Extend Early Voting

He Disagrees: Gov. Scott says early voting will end Saturday, period. Democrats want an extension to relieve the long lines.

Top state Democrats and the League of Women Voters have been pleading with Gov. Rick Scott  to extend the early voting to relieve the long lines and multi-hour waits. 

Last night, the governor said no.  "Early voting will end Saturday night," he announced to reporters at a fundraiser in the Alachua County town of Newberry. 

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Books & Books To Hold A Party Saturday
9:42 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

Books & Books Celebrates 30 Years

Credit Books & Books
Mitchell Kaplan says he set out to create a literary culture in South Florida when he opened Books & Books.


It's been 30 years since the independent bookstore, Books & Books, first opened its doors in Coral Gables, and this week, they're celebrating.
 

Today there are stores throughout the region and beyond. There are three South Florida stores, as well as outposts at the Miami International Airport and the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale,  and stores in Grand Cayman and Westhampton Beach, New York, too.

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Listen To WLRN Miami Herald News
7:08 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

NEWSCAST: Frustration Builds Over Early Voting

Credit Big Dubya/Flickr
More than a million Floridians have gone through the early voting process.

Early voting in Florida is nearing a close, and some voters are calling the process a nightmare.

A long ballot is making for long lines to vote, and the crowds are only expected to grow this weekend.

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The Button Lens
5:29 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

The Button Man: This Job Brought To You By Mitt Romney

Credit Photo by Kenny Malone
Marvin Francis, 44, graphic designer and political button salesman outside of a recent rally for former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney

Marvin Francis crouched over and dug into a yellow and forest green La Salle High School miniature duffel bag. "'NObama'; 'You Lie,'" he read from a pile of oversized red, white and blue buttons. A small crowd peaked over his shoulders, holding five and ten dollar bills at their sides.

"I think that's all the selection I have left. And 'Obama Sucks,'" he added. "That's the only other one that I have that I didn't want to put out 'cause there's too many young kids."

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Breaking
1:52 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

Miami Marlins Choose New Manager, Again

Credit http://www.flickr.com/people/13051151@N04/
Marlins new manager Mike Redmond pictured as a player in 2000.

The Miami Marlins have chosen their new manager.

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Auditing Hate Crimes
1:35 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

South Florida Anti-Semitism Declined In 2011

Mixed Report: Anti-Semitism incidents declined in 20121 but trends remain disturbing.

Anti-Jewish behavior is at a 20-year low in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League's latest Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, but the Florida numbers have barely budged.

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Opera Gone Digital
1:13 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

Florida Grand Opera Goes Digital For National Opera Week

image: Florida Grand Opera

The Florida Grand Opera has gone digital for National Opera Week.

The week celebrates the vibrance and culture of the art form in America today.  But as the FGO's approach to participating in the week illustrates, there is a marked difference in how they are working to reach new audiences, as compared to the past.

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