TAMPA, Fla. — Voting in the primaries is your first chance at having your voice heard before the general election. With the primary elections coming up Tuesday and hotly contested races in the balance, we want to make sure you are armed with answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Jeff Johnson is the State Director of AARP and an expert in the Florida electoral process. He answered some of the most common questions voters have.
What changed this year in the voting process?
“Drop boxes have been a way that a lot of people have wanted to submit their absentee or vote-by-mail ballot. They are under much tighter restrictions this year. They’ll only be operating where they can be supervised and only during certain hours.”
What are the different ways people in our state people can vote this year?
“You can certainly show up on election day, which is kind of the tradition that folks are used to. We have a very robust vote-by-mail program in Florida and every county does it a little bit differently. Some more aggressively than others, but you have the ability to vote with an absentee ballot.”
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How secure is voting-by-mail in our state?
“If you do vote-by-mail, you can track your ballot. You can make sure it’s been received. You can make sure it’s been counted all on the supervisor’s website.”
Does party affiliation matter when voting in the primaries?
“So, in Florida, you need to vote in the primary for the party that you’ve registered in. You do register by a political party and there are some races that are non-partisan. So, often school board races or judge races.”
Remember that ABC Action News is your headquarters for primary election coverage. Starting Tuesday, we will have coverage from all over the Tampa Bay area. Our journalists will be working around the clock to get you the most up-to-date election results.
