JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Just three weeks from Florida's presidential primary, voters told Channel 4 they either are not thinking about the race or they wonder whether casting a ballot will matter.

Those who follow politics will remember the squabble between Florida legislators -- who wanted to move the state's primary ahead of other states -- and the national parties -- which claim the early primary violated their rules and vowed to minimize the result of the voting.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all its delegates to the national convention -- a move that has been challenged in court.

All leading Democratic candidates have pledged not to campaign in Florida, although a few have visited fundraising events in the state.

The Republican Party leaders said it will seat only half of Florida's delegates at their nominating convention. GOP candidates have visited the state, especially Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, who each visited Jacksonville twice in 2006.

Local party officials said they are still hopeful Florida's delegates will have a voice at the conventions, and the result of this month's primary will determine how those delegates vote.

"I assure you the delegates will be seated," Duval County Democratic Chairman Travis Bridges told Channel 4's Jim Piggott. "When the nominee is selected the nominee has the choice of seating or not seating delegates. There is no nominee that is going to exclude Florida."

Duval County's Republican Party chairman said that once Michigan's Jan. 15 primary is over, Jacksonville and the rest of Florida will be slammed with candidates. He said that even if only half the state's delegates are seated, it would still have one of the largest voting blocks at the convention.

Duval County's supervisor of elections also said the Jan. 29 election is relevant.

"We are going to count the votes," Supervisor Jerry Holland said. "The world will know how Florida votes and who they select as the two primary candidates."

Holland also said the outcome of property tax amendment on the Jan. 29 ballot will affect every property owner in Florida.

Absentee voting is under way in the state's primary, and early voting begins in all Florida counties on Monday, Jan. 14.