Despite minor delays getting polls open in a few counties, turnout for today's primary voting in Florida is expected to be heavy and steady throughout the day.
In addition to the possibility of a historic number of voters going to the polls, Secretary of State Ken Detzner says a record number of absentee and early voting ballots have been cast ahead of Tuesday.
At a morning press conference, Detzner said more than 1.2 million registered voters turned in absentee ballots and another 800,000-plus participated in early voting. Those numbers are both higher than 2012's total.
Detzner said he had also heard initial reports of large turnout Tuesday morning.
"I received calls this morning from supervisors in Hillsborough County within the first 10 minutes of the polls opening, they had 3,000 votes cast," he said. "I'm getting reports from supervisors of very, very heavy and intense voting this morning."
However, Detzner said he had not heard of long wait times from any counties Tuesday morning.
A large number of Floridians using absentee ballots and early voting will mean more of the vote tally will be available soon after the polls close. Detzner said all of the results from votes made before Tuesday's primary should be available once they start releasing the tallies.
He also said results from local supervisors of elections should come in to the state every 45 minutes after the initial numbers are released.
Polls in Florida are scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Eastern.
