Karen Branch-Brioso, Carrollwood:

The sun has set. But with the polls 45 minutes away from being closed, Precinct 554 – Grace Lutheran Church in Carollwood – is hopping with the after-work crowd.

The parking lot is filling up. The lines are growing. People like Rick Shelton, 50, say a little rain couldn’t have kept him away.

“I had an umbrella, just in case,” Shelton said. “I pretty much vote every election. I feel like it’s my duty.”

Ditto for Yun Chang, 40. The physician just got off work and wouldn’t have missed this vote. He says tort reform is important to him and he likes the way U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson – a Democrat – and Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist support limits on malpractice awards.

He says the turnout this late in the game is a good sign.

“People are still coming out,” he marvels at the line at the precinct behind him. “They’ve been saying turnout is only going to be 50-55 percent, but I feel there’s going to be more than that in this area.”

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