South Florida voter registration – comparing 2016 to today
Bottom Line: Today is the final day in which one may register to vote in Florida’s August 18th primaries. As we’re readying for the final march to Election Day, which amazingly is only three and a half months away, I wanted to compare voter registration by party in South Florida from four years ago to today to observe South Florida’s trends for registered partisan voters. Here’s a look by county.
July 2016:
- Broward: Democrat: 70% (574,281) Republican: 30% (251,702)
- Miami-Dade: Democrat: 60% (551,235), Republican: 40% (364,814)
- Palm Beach: Democrat: 60% (372,422), Republican: 40% (248,450)
July 2020:
- Broward: Democrat: 71% (608,233), Republican: 29% (253,619)
- Miami-Dade: Democrat: 61% (617,798), Republican: 39% (389,824)
- Palm Beach: Democrat: 60% (417,150), Republican: 40% (276,436)
This would appear to be a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. Among registered partisans, there’s been a gain of about 1% by Democrats in Broward and Miami Dade – with no net change in Palm Beach County. This would suggest that several narratives haven’t played out including a large anti-Trump boost for Democrats, or an expanded Republican base related to President Trump. It shows that Broward continues to be the leading county for Democrats in the state and that it’s still moving towards the left. But on balance, little has changed over four years ago, though the political landscape is vastly different than when the President was Obama and our modern reference point for a pandemic was the 2009 flu season. Early voting for the August 18th primaries begins August 3rd in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County and August the 8th in Broward.