Fewer Floridians voted in this election than they did four years ago, even though the share of voters who cast ballots — voter turnout — was higher compared to 2020.
The latest data shows that the percentage of registered voters who turned out for this election was the highest in a generation.
The 2024 contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris had almost 79% of active registered voters show up in Florida. The biggest turnout was the 1992 race between Republican George H.W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton, and independent Ross Perot. It brought out 83% of eligible voters.
This year's election, however, had fewer total voters compared to 2020. Four years ago, almost 11.2 million people voted statewide. This year, it was about 11 million, meaning that about 200,000 fewer people voted.
Some of the largest decreases in voter turnout were in the state’s largest counties. Turnout fell by about 8% in Broward and Pinellas counties. Down 5% in Miami-Dade and Hillsborough. Down around 3 to 4% in Palm Beach and Duval counties.
Turnout jumped by more than 10% each in Flagler, Pasco and St. John’s counties.
The change helps explain how Florida has turned bright red toward Republicans. Trump, in fact, won 61 of 67 counties.
The number of registered Democrats was down in all 67 Florida counties compared to the last presidential election. It fell in only eight counties for Republicans and grew in the rest, including in Miami-Dade.
The GOP went into this election with a historical margin of registered voters. And they showed up.
Florida’s population has grown in the last four years, so why hasn’t the number of registered voters increased?
Voter roll maintenance.
County election supervisors have to review their voter registration list. A new law gives people 30 days to respond when they’re notified their voter registration will be considered inactive.
For example, election supervisors send out notices to confirm the current address of someone who has registered but hasn’t voted in a while. Voters have a month to respond to stay active. Otherwise they are marked as inactive and then they have two general elections to vote or update their information before they’re dropped entirely from the voter registration rolls.
This change meant tens of thousands fewer active registered voters in Broward County.
"There were about 200,000 people who were actually inactive voters for this election," Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott told WLRN on Election night. "That is a change from previous elections. The size of that inactive group is the big change," he said.
Another new law includes regulations and increased fines for breaking voter registration rules. One rule requires any group working to register voters to give people a receipt with their group’s state registration number. Supporters of the law say its intended to discourage voter registration fraud. One consequence was that a lot of groups shut down or scaled back their voter registration efforts.
Genesis Robinson, interim executive director of Equal Ground, a Black-led, Florida-based voter rights organization, blamed those new laws for fewer registered voters, especially voters of color.
“Across the country, voter suppression tactics — from stringent ID requirements and restrictions on third-party voter registration efforts to aggressive voter purges and limitations on vote-by-mail — have made it increasingly difficult for people to participate fully in the democratic process," said Robinson.
“These barriers have silenced voices and restricted representation in this election, undermining the foundation of a democracy that should be accessible to all.”
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd rejected the idea that stricter voting laws suppressed voter registration and turnout. His agency oversees the state Department of Elections.
“We’re the third largest state in the country, and to all of the critics of our election integrity measures who say that it would suppress the vote, tonight’s election, or this election cycle, Florida will reach its highest percentage of turnout since 1992,” Byrd told reporters Tuesday night. “What that proves is that when the voters trust in the process, they turn out.”
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