The countdown is on for the Aug. 18 primary election.
And for some voters, that means it’s time for a refresher on voting in a primary election in Florida.
For starters, if you’re not yet registered and wish to vote in the primary election, you have until July 20 – that’s 29 days prior to the election.
Registering to vote is easy and only takes a few minutes.
Visit SarasotaVotes.gov to get started or call my office for assistance.
With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let’s talk about the primary election process.
Florida is one of a dozen or so states that have some form of closed primary.
That means to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries, an individual must be a registered member of one of those parties at least 29 days prior to the election.
Now that we’ve got a handle on the closed primary election process, let’s talk about exceptions.
There are always exceptions.
What if you are one of more than 85,000 Sarasota County voters who have no party affiliation (NPA) or are a member of a minor party?
Not to worry.
As I say to voters all the time, there’s something for everyone on a primary election ballot.
For this primary election there are nonpartisan countywide races for three Sarasota County School Board seats – and for city of Sarasota voters there will be two at-large city commission seats.
So regardless of your party affiliation, there is something for you to vote for on the primary ballot.
Another exception is what’s known as a universal primary contest, or UPC.
This occurs when all the candidates for an office in a primary election are of the same party and the winner of the primary will have no opposition in the general election.
When this happens, all electors, regardless of party affiliation, are eligible to vote in the primary for that office.
Some voters will see up to three UPCs on the Aug. 18 primary election ballot, including charter review board and hospital board (on all ballots) and Sarasota County commissioners District 2 (for voters registered in that single member district).
To recap, Florida is a closed primary state – but there are still opportunities for all registered voters to participate regardless of party affiliation.
The key is understanding the requirements and making a plan to vote.
If you still have questions about the closed primary process, you may visit SarasotaVotes.gov where we have more resources available – or you can call us at 941-861-8619.
Ron Turner is the Sarasota County supervisor of elections. He is a past president of the Florida Supervisors of Elections statewide association.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Every Sarasota County voter has a reason to vote on Aug. 18 | Opinion
Reporting by Ron Turner Guest columnist, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ron Turner Guest columnist, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
