More than 500,000 Floridians, or about a quarter of the 2.07 million who have requested mail-in ballots, have already cast votes in the March 17 presidential primary elections.
With four Republicans on the ballot, including President Donald Trump, GOP voters had returned 325,607 of 964,327 requested ballots. Democrats, with a larger field, had seen 183,538 ballots cast from 1.06 million requested ballots, as some party officials have advised people against voting too early.
Those numbers were posted midday Friday by the state Division of Elections.
There are 16 Democrats on the ballot, including several who have suspended their campaigns since qualifying. Another 6,760 ballots had been cast by people without a party affiliation or who are registered with a third parties.
As of Monday morning in Duval County; 10,214 Republicans had returned mail-in ballots and 5,725 Democrats had voted by mail, according to the state Division of Elections.
On the First Coast, voters in the city of St. Augustine will be voting on two propositions in addition to the presidential primary.
The first would extend terms for police and fire department representatives on the Civil Service Board from one to three years.
The other would require candidates to live and be registered to vote in the city for one year prior to qualifying to run for office or being appointed to the City Commission.
Related
- Read the summaries of the St. Augustine propositions
- Full text of the Civil Service Board proposition
- Full text of the Residency Requirements proposition
St. Johns is one of the more than 20 Florida counties with other issues before voters. For example, Lee County has elections in Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs, and Broward County has elections in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Lighthouse Point, Pembroke Pines and Pompano Beach.
Early voting in Florida will be held March 7 to March 14 ahead of Florida’s presidential primary. Here’s where First Coast voters can vote early:
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.