Florida voters woke up on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, to find that flooding had already changed where many of them would cast their ballots. In an alert sent late Monday evening, the state Division of Elections said county election officials in areas hit by severe rain and flooding had set up alternative polling sites for 21 original sites covering 30 precincts, because the original buildings were damaged by flooding or the roads leading to them were inundated or unsafe to travel.

Source: News Service of Florida

The eight counties where polling places moved are Brevard, Broward, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie, the Division of Elections said. Brevard County, on the Space Coast, and St. Lucie County were the most affected, according to reporting on the state's response.

The relocations were made under an emergency executive order, Executive Order 26-227, after Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency over the flooding. Notices are posted at the old polling sites directing voters to the new locations, and the new addresses can also be checked on the Division of Elections website or with a voter's home county.

A Davie polling place under water

In Broward County, the polling place at the Paradise Village Clubhouse on West State Road 84 in Davie flooded and was closed, Broward officials said. Its voters were relocated to Tree Tops Park in Davie. Some voters had already arrived by midmorning and said they were notified about where to go. "We're flooded out at Paradise Village, and it was closed, and we moved over here; they notified us, so now I'm here on Election Day," voter Tom Iatesta told CBS News Miami.

Source: CBS News Miami

South Florida was drenched on Monday as rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms swept the region. Doppler radar estimates showed some neighbourhoods received more than 6 inches of rain, with reports of more than 7 inches in Sunrise, around 6 inches in Weston and over 5 inches in Davie. Weather reporting on the storm put the heaviest totals on Florida's Atlantic coast at as much as 22 inches of rain in 24 hours in the worst-hit spots.

More rain falling on saturated ground

The ground was still saturated on Tuesday, and forecasters kept a Level 2 risk of excessive rainfall and flash flooding in effect for Broward County and northern Miami-Dade County, CBS News Miami reported. A Coastal Flood Advisory also remained in effect until 7 p.m. because of the risk of saltwater flooding at high tide, with high tide at around 4 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Flooding also closed St. Bonaventure Catholic School in Davie for the day. Public schools in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties were already closed on Election Day for teacher planning days.

Polls in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election officials are urging every voter in the eight affected counties to check their polling place before leaving home, because a voter's assigned site may have moved overnight. Voters who arrive at an old site will find a posted notice with the replacement address.

For the Punjabi and wider South Asian diaspora families who live across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, and for truck drivers moving freight through South Florida, the practical advice from officials is the same: expect standing water on low roads, do not drive through flooded streets, and build extra time into the trip to vote.

What happens next: voting continues until polls close at 7 p.m., after which counting begins in Florida's midterm races, including the contests for governor and the U.S. Senate. Election officials say the emergency framework stays in place through Election Day, and any further polling-place changes will be posted by the Division of Elections and county offices as conditions change.