Florida's Republican presidential primary is still four days away, but more than 10 percent of eligible voters have already cast their ballots.

Early voting began statewide on Saturday, and as of Friday morning, 187,974 ballots were cast, according to the Florida Department of State, which runs the division of elections.

In addition, more than 520,000 people have requested and were sent absentee ballots, and as of Friday morning 274,767 were received by election officials.

In Duval County, 10,099 early votes were cast by Friday afternoon and 13,830 absentee ballots were received and verified, which represents 12.4 percent of eligible voters in Jacksonville.

Early voting ends Saturday in all Florida Counties. Absentees must be received at the elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday.  [Early voting times/locations]

The most popular early voting location in Jacksonville was busy Friday with people who said they waited to vote until after Thursday's candidate debate in Jacksonville.

"I waited until after the debate to vote. The debate helped me make up my mind for (Mitt) Romney," said Arline Thrift.

Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said Friday afternoon there does seem to be a post-debate bounce in early voting.

"We really felt like the daily voting numbers would go up on a daily basis once we had the debate," Holland said. "We are seeing the numbers so far today double from any previous day."

Political observers say it appears the early votes may be helping the former Massachusetts governor, who's slightly ahead of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich among Florida voters in the latest polls.

According to an American Research Group survey released Wednesday, 17 percent of likely primary voters say they had already voted by absentee ballot or early voting. Of this group, the survey indicates Romney leads Gingrich 51 percent to 39 percent. Among the 83 percent who say they haven't voted yet, Romney holds a 39-33 percent margin over Gingrich.

If Florida's Jan. 31 primary turns out to be a very close contest, absentee and early voting could be the deciding factor. At stake: 50 delegates, the biggest catch so far. And it's winner-take-all in Florida.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Romney captured half of the early absentee votes, because he has a campaign machine to produce them and none of his rivals for the GOP nomination can match him," said Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist and CNN contributor.

"It may mean that Mitt Romney gets an extra quarter to play for that Gingrich won't, that Romney's won the fifth quarter," added Castellanos, who was a top media adviser for Romney's 2008 nomination bid but who is not taking sides this cycle.