By Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
Election Day for Florida’s primary is Tuesday, but 1.9 million people have already returned mail-in ballots, with more Democrats choosing mail-in ballots and Republicans taking the lead on in-person early voting.
Mail-in ballots represent the majority of the votes Floridians have cast thus far in the primaries for local, statewide, and congressional races, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections. Of the 1.2 million people who have voted by mail, around 44% are Democrats and 41% are Republicans.
Among Democrats who have requested mail-in ballots, 497,231 have yet to return them to elections officials, compared to 376,837, Republicans, according to the division.
However, nearly 60% of the 655,697 in-person early votes have come from Republicans. Approximately 181,000 fewer Democrats have taken to the polls ahead of Election Day. More people voted early in this primary than in the 2020 primary, when 558,430 voters chose to cast their ballots early, according to the division. Early voting ended on Sunday.
Vote-by-mail ballots can be deposited into secure drop boxes or at supervisors of elections offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day, which is also the deadline for when the supervisors must receive the ballots submitted through the mail.
Although some Florida counties opened polling stations for early voting starting on Aug. 5, officials in seven counties delayed in-person early voting because of the damage Hurricane Debbie caused.
Despite making up 26% of registered voters in the state, only 224,828 nonparty-affiliated voters have voted by mail or at an early voting location. Florida has a closed primary system, meaning that only registered Republicans can vote in a Republican primary and only Democrats can vote in a Democratic primary, which reduces the number of races NPA and third-party voters can participate in.
But any voters can cast ballots in a primary in which the winner wouldn’t face any challengers in November, such as the Florida Senate District 35 race between Democratic incumbent Geraldine Thompson and Randolph Bracy. Other nonpartisan races, including those for school board seats, are open to all registered voters.
