Early voting in the Florida primary election is underway for some counties in the state. While Florida has closed primaries, there are some contests that all voters – regardless of party affiliation – can participate in.
There are a number of non-partisan races on ballots in Florida that everyone can vote in. They include judges, school board members, municipal leaders and other ballot initiatives.
In partisan races in Florida's closed primaries, voters registered as a Democrat or Republican will vote for their party's nominee. But in some cases, all voters can participate in a universal primary contest.
"We haven't seen one of these since 2014. It's been a while," said Tom Bobanic, Brevard County's supervisor of elections. "We've had to explain for the same reason that if the only candidates that qualified are from the same party and there's no write-ins, no other parties, then that becomes a universal primary decided in the August election."
All Brevard voters can participate in the Canaveral Port Authority District 5 race, regardless of party affiliation, for this reason.
In Osceola County, Paula Stark, the sole Republican candidate for Florida House District 47, failed to qualify for the race. With only two Democrats qualifying, that race will be a universal primary contest.
"Every voter that's in House District 47 will have that on their ballot," said Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington.
The winner of that primary, selected by all party voters, will win the seat.
In Marian County, two state House races are also universal primaries: House District 21 and House District 24.
There are a number of additional universal primary contests happening statewide. Voters can reach out to their county's Supervisor of Elections for a sample ballot to see which races they can vote on in the primary.
Optional early voting begins in some counties Monday. All counties are required by the state to hold early voting Aug. 8-15. Primary election day is Aug. 18.
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