With all the drama and turmoil surrounding the upcoming presidential election, it might be easy to forget that Floridians have a primary vote on Aug. 20.
Matthew Peddie, host of "Florida Matters" and the podcast "Our Changing State," speaks with WUSF reporter and producer Steve Newborn about what to expect on the upcoming primary ballot.
What races voters can expect
There are several important elections.
One is a school board measure. This August might be the last time Floridians get to vote in all the school board primaries because of Amendment 1.
If this passes, school board elections would become partisan, meaning Floridians who are independent or no party affiliates would not get to vote in future primaries, Newborn said.
Judicial races are also nonpartisan. But candidates do not campaign, leaving it up to voters to do the research.
Newborn said all judicial candidates have websites that are great tools for learning more about what each stands for.
“They usually have a listing of some of the major issues that they have dealt with in the past,” Newborn said. “You can also just do some research on your own, do a web search on some of the cases that these judges have ruled on in the past and see if you like what they ruled.”
Another race to pay attention to in the primaries is the Sarasota County hospital board election, Newborn said.
The election, which once was overshadowed in the primaries, started getting more attention due to COVID-19.
“A lot of very right-wing Republicans are going for this board; they oppose vaccine mandates and maybe even privatizing Sarasota Memorial Hospital,” Newborn said. “So this is a race that people in Sarasota are starting to pay attention to, something that nobody really has given 2 cents about in the past.”
Meantime, Hillsborough County voters will elect their state atorney, and Floridians will get a chance to vote in congressional district primaries.
Tips for voting in the primaries
Elections can be complicated. The best way to ensure you are aware of all the races in your county is to stay updated on local supervisor of elections website, Newborn said.
“You just go to the website for each county, and they'll have a list of all the races, including the local races in that county,” Newborn said. “You can even drill down to your specific ballot.”
Some Floridians vote early, on the day of the election or by mail. Another tip Newborn offered is to stay on top of your vote-by-mail registration.
“The state lawmakers passed a law recently that makes you have to reregister to vote by mail every two years,” Newborn said. “So if you do it last year during the local elections, you’re good, but not probably too many people voted last year, I’d imagine. But if you voted in the 2022 elections, you’d have to reregister to get that early mail ballot in.”
The deadline for requesting an mail ballot is Aug. 8.
The number of early voting locations has also changed in many counties since the 2020 election.
Hillsborough has more than 20, while Hernando and Polk have dropped to only three, Newborn said.
It is also important to check which candidates are running in which races. Each supervisor of elections website has a list of candidates, Newborn said.
“Just click on the website of each of the candidates; they usually are quite open about what they stand for and what they plan to do in office,” Newborn said. “Just do your research, and you’ll be an informed voter.”
