TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – 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 U.S. Senate, governor, two state cabinet races and a host of congressional and legislative seats.
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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 nonpartisan local races that everyone can participate in. Many nonpartisan county and municipal contests, including judges and school board seats, 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 28 election. That’s far from true," Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said. "Almost every local race is a non-partisan race this election cycle.”
According to the Florida Division of Elections, the state has nearly 13 million total voters. Of those, 4.7 million are registered as Democrats, 4.5 million are registered Republicans, and nearly 3.5 million Floridian voters declared with no party affiliation and nearly 83,000 were registered with minor parties. Both NPA and third-party numbers are up from last year.