Florida Early Voting and Vote-By-Mail Update 

Florida Early Voting and Vote-By-Mail Update 

Bottom Line: Florida’s primary election day is two weeks from today, but already hundreds of thousands of Floridians have had their votes tabulated. This is in part due to Florida’s new election laws, in force for the first time this cycle, which enable election supervisors the opportunity to tabulate vote-by-mail ballots up to 40 days in advance of an election. This is in an effort to reduce the burden on election supervisors on election day, and to provide quicker results. Speaking of results, through this election cycle I’ll be tracking the votes as they’re cast across the state. This cycle marks the first in Florida’s history in which republicans hold the largest number of registered voters, however republicans don’t have a high-profile race at the top of the ticket as democrats do this primary cycle. Will that lead to lower turnout among republicans this August? What does engagement by Florida’s NPA’s look like? Florida’s NPA’s now make up over 29% of all registered voters and will play a critical role in determining non-partisan races on our August ballots.  

Here’s how many Floridians have cast ballots based on party registration in comparison to votes tabulated prior to election day (791,143 votes as of this update) from Florida’s primary election four years ago: 

• Democrat: 45% (43.9% - in 2018) 
• Minor Party: 1.2% (0.03% - in 2018) 
• NPA: 15.2% (10.1% in 2018) 
• Republican: 38.6% (45.7% in 2018) 

Thus far turnout, at least on a percentage basis, is higher among all non-republican voters. Miami-Dade, Palm Beach County and Hillsborough counties lead the state in tabulated vote-by-mail ballots thus far. Turnout will be key to the outcome of many non-partisan races across the state – most notably school board races. To be continued...