How to vote in the August primary elections
How to vote in the August primary elections
Early voting is happening this weekend through next Saturday in every county in Florida. Here's what voters should know before casting a ballot.
Voting in the primary elections is already underway across Florida.
Mail-in ballots have been arriving at local election offices over the last few weeks, and early voting is taking place across the state this weekend through next Saturday.
Election Day is on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
How do I vote early?
State law requires county election offices to provide early voting between Saturday, Aug. 10 and Saturday, Aug. 17.
Early voting has already begun in some counties, and can last through Sunday, Aug. 18.
Check with your local Supervisor of Elections Office to find out specific times, dates and locations for early voting.
Voters must show a valid photo ID with a signature before casting a ballot in-person.
Some acceptable forms of identification include: a Floria driver’s license or state ID, a U.S. passport, a student ID, a military ID and a government employee ID.
Does party affiliation matter to vote in the primary?
Florida is a closed primary state, meaning only a party’s voters can vote in that party’s primary election.
However, some elections in August are open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation. Those include: races that are nonpartisan, as well as races in which every candidate belongs to the same party and the winner won’t face opposition in the general election.
Across the Panhandle, every state legislative race has Democratic and Republican candidates, meaning those primary elections are closed.
The presence of write-in candidates in Escambia, Gadsden, Santa Rosa and Walton Counties has closed some primary elections for county commission that would’ve otherwise been open to all voters in those counties. In Walton County, the sheriff’s election is closed to Republican voters only.
Check with your local Supervisor of Elections’ website to see a list of candidates and their party affiliation or whether or not they’re a write-in candidate.
How do I vote by mail?
Voters may return their vote-by-mail ballot now through Election Day on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
To cast a mail-in ballot, voters can drop it off at a ballot drop-box, return it to an early voting site or they can hand-deliver or mail it back to their local Supervisor of Elections Office.
The ballot must be received by their county election office before 7 p.m. on Tueday, Aug. 20. If it’s mailed before that time and it’s not received, then it won’t be counted.
Voters can contact their local Supervisor of Elections Office to check on the status of their mail-in ballot.
How do I vote on Election Day?
Election Day voting takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 20 from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Voters who are in line before the 7 o’clock deadline can still cast a ballot.
On Election Day, voters must cast a ballot at their designated polling location. Voters can lookup their precinct or polling location online.
Voters must show a valid photo ID with signature. Here’s a complete list of acceptable forms of identification.