To avoid Florida being the focus of attention of the presidential election - just as in 2000 - a week ago, thousands of voters facing the sun and heat waited in long lines in order to ensure that their vote is counted.
Eight years ago, the state was the scene of a controversial recount of votes, which ended up giving the victory to George W. Bush, in a process that involved accusations of intimidation against voters, buying votes, and the disappearance of ballots.
Florida has the greatest number of votes in the electoral college, among swing states, and has the potential to decide the American presidency.
California, Texas and New York is sending a greater number of representatives to the electoral college, but the results in these states can already be clear - Barack Obama should win in California and New York, John McCain in Texas.
McCain and Obama want to secure the 27 votes of Florida and therefore both have had a huge presence in the state in the final stretch of the election season.
Republican advantage
The Republicans have a clear historic advantage, since they won eight of the last elections in Florida, but the fact that McCain is being forced to continue the battle in the state up to the last week before the election indicates that the Democrats have a real chance of reducing the disadvantage.
Many were quick to point out defects in the Democratic challenger. "Obama is very young, he does not have any experience," said Cuban Maggi Muñoz to Newsnight. "And we need a person with great international experience."
New voters
Democrats and Republicans registered thousands of new voters for this election and several non-governmental organizations also worked hard to recruit specific groups, such as the Center for Guidance of Immigrants in Miami, chaired by Honduran Carlos Pereira.
"We managed to convince more than 12 thousand Latin Americans to take the U.S. citizenship test and register to vote this year," said Pereira.
About 20% of Florida's population is Hispanic, mostly Cuban, who tend to be loyal to the Republican Party.
But this year, Pereira noted, many Cubans have changed their side.
"The younger Cuban generations are tilting to the Democratic Party and the older generations remain loyal to McCain and the Republican Party.
Florida is one of the states most affected by the economic crisis and many residents have expressed disappointment with the government's current president, George W. Bush.
But a Democratic victory is not yet certain and it appears that once again the spotlight on 4th will be on Florida.
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