OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Today, Tuesday, March 19, is election day across the state of Florida. If it doesn’t seem like it, there are two good reasons.
First, today is a presidential preference primary. It’s irrelevant since President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both secured enough delegate support a week ago to become their parties’ presumptive presidential nominees.
Second, only registered Republicans will vote in the primary this year. That’s because Florida is a closed primary state, meaning only people registered with the party can vote in that party’s primary election. Democrats can’t vote in a Republican primary and vice versa.
There is only a Republican presidential primary today. The Florida Democratic Party opted to only put Biden’s name on the 2024 primary ballot, effectively canceling the party’s primary and awarding its 224 delegates to Biden.
For the GOP, seven candidates will appear on the ballot. But all have dropped out of the race except Trump. The Republicans have 125 delegates at stake.
The polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Since some counties in the Panhandle are in the central time zone, votes won’t be reported until after 8 p.m. ET.
Florida will hold a primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The ballot will be more robust on that date when voters will select candidates running for U.S. House and Senate, State House and Senate, various courts, school boards, municipal races, ballot measures and more.