TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Election offices around the state are busy counting early ballots and getting prepared for Tuesday’s primary elections.
“From what I’m hearing from everybody, things have been progressing very smoothly. Early voting has gone without a hiccup from what I heard,” said Mark Early, President of Florida Supervisors of Elections.
Over one million Floridians have already cast their ballot ahead of time, but some counties saw lower turnouts.
“It’s a little bit lower turnout so far, which isn’t surprising. It’s been pretty hot and people are a little bit weary of politics,” said political analyst Dr. Susan MacManus.
So far, data shows that about 78,000 more Republicans than Democrats have voted early in-person. When it comes to mail-in ballots, around 154,000 more Democrats than Republicans have cast their vote.
“Republicans turn out much heavier on Election Day itself. It’s not surprising that the Democrats have an advantage because of the mail ballots,” said Michael Binder, UNF Department of Political Science professor.
Arguably the largest race on the ballot is between Democratic candidates for governor, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Rep. Charlie Crist.
“The polls in the governor’s race have been all over the map, but the thinking going into the race is that Crist will win, but that the races tighten a lot in recent weeks,” said MacManus.
The President of Florida Supervisors of Elections wanted to reassure voters ahead of Tuesday.
“We’re here to make sure votes are counted accurately, transparently and securely, but we also want participation,” said Early.
Voters will be able to head to their assigned polling place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday.
