TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Election supervisors are reminding voters across Florida that they must be registered with major political parties in order to vote in partisan primary elections next month.
Democrats and Republicans will be choosing candidates for US Senate, governor, two state cabinet races and a host of congressional and legislative seats.
Since Florida is a closed primary state, independent voters and citizens registered with minor political parties will not be allowed to cast ballots in those contests. However, there are still a significant number of non-partisan local races that everyone can participate in.
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley says many county and municipal contests are actually decided during the primary election.
“There’s a misconception out there, that if you are registered with a minor party or registered as a non-partisan voter, you won’t be able to vote in the August 28th election," said Earley. "That’s far from true. Almost every local race is a non-partisan race this election cycle.”
According to the state Division of Elections, there are now nearly 3.5 million Floridians registered with no party affiliation and another 82,000 who belong to minor political parties.
Both of those numbers are up from last year. The state has nearly 13 million total registered voters.
