Republicans lead in mail-in ballot return rates in Florida.
Posted by The Dan Bongino Show, Checked
- Sources
- 6 contradict
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Dan Bongino ShowOct 16, 2026
Florida's Division of Elections data reported in late October 2026 show Democrats leading in mail-in ballot returns, not Republicans, and no source reports a Republican mail-return lead. No source covers the exact 2026-10-16 date, so this rests on the earliest reported figures (Oct. 23) and the consistent trend after.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… I can't believe it. I told I was told this is a huge blue wave. I'm not telling you the race is over. Early voting's indicative of every single metric? No. But I would rather mail-in voting remaining more red than 2024, and Republicans lead in mail-in ballot return rates so far. You can see the numbers right there. I thought we were told it's a fait accompli. It's over. The whole thing's done. Though, that doesn't seem to tell that story. In Florida, there is a little bit of bad news. …
The Dan Bongino Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. As of Oct. 23, Democrats had returned 522,621 vote-by-mail ballots compared with 437,393 for Republicans, a Democratic lead.[1][2]
Contradicts. As of Oct. 27, Democrats had returned about 643,000 mail ballots versus just under 530,000 from Republicans, and the report says Democrats lead in mail returns while Republicans lead in early in-person voting.[3][4][5]
Contradicts. As of Oct. 30, Democrats had returned 762,012 vote-by-mail ballots compared with 622,664 from Republicans, with reporting that Democrats had returned nearly 140,000 more mail ballots.[6]
Context. The claimant's own statement that Republicans lead mail-in return rates is an assertion in the post, not evidence. Florida is resolved from the post's own references to Florida mail ballots, so the extraction does not add a scope the post lacked.
Context. Republicans led in in-person early voting in these same reports, which may be what the claimant was conflating with mail-in returns.[3][4][6]
Sources
6 sources: 6 not rated
- 1Missed Florida's mail-ballot deadline? Here are your optionsrmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 2Missed Florida’s mail-ballot deadline? Here are your optionsnews-press.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 3Florida early voting results with Republican vs. Democrat turnoutwitness.usatoday.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
- 4Democrats overtake in Florida mail-in voting; Republicans ...yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
- 5Florida early voting results with Republican vs. Democrat turnouttallahassee.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6Nearly 4.3 million have voted in Florida. Which party is in the lead?heraldtribune.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Black voters in Florida are using in-person early voting at twice the rate they did in 2022.True
- Nevada early voting and mail-in ballot data indicates a trend favoring Democrats.True
- Donald Trump has cast a vote by mail in Florida.True
- The United States Postal Service has rejected mail ballot envelopes in at least one jurisdiction in Florida.True