BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Early voting for the Aug. 20 primary election began Saturday in Broward County.
Local 10′s Cody Weddle said he did not see many voters coming out to polling locations throughout the first day.
“I would just say ‘don’t sleep on August elections,’” Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said. “You know, this is important. You know, this is when we pick our school board members – there are key county positions that are being decided in this August election. And these races, people think ‘Oh, well I’ll just wait. This is the Primary. I’ll wait and vote for the General in November.’ But a lot of these positions actually won’t be on the ballot in November.”
In these elections, only voters affiliated with parties can vote in many races, like for U.S. senator.
But other races, including for judges and the school board, are open to any voter.
Races where no candidate registered from an opposing party will also be open to all voters in what’s called a universal primary.
“We have a number of positions (where) every candidate who is running happens to be a registered Democrat,” Scott said. “When that happens, what we have is what’s called a universal primary. So whether you’re a Republican, no party affiliation, minor party – whatever your affiliation – everybody’s gonna see these races.”
Early voting in Broward runs through Aug. 18.
There are 28 locations in Broward County for early voting.
Any voter can vote at any of the locations during early voting and they are all open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“The great thing about early voting is that you can vote anywhere in the county,” Scott said. “So it can be close to your job, close to your house, close to a friend or family member’s house that you want to go voting with. You really have a lot of flexibility during that early voting period and you want to take advantage.”
For those who received a mailed ballot, there are drop boxes at all polling places. Early voting started on Monday in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
To view all early voting locations in Broward County, click here.
For everything you need to know about early voting, view Local 10′s Vote 2024 guide.