TAMPA, Fla. — As voters go to the polls Tuesday for the 2024 Florida Presidential Preference Primary, the early voting numbers from across the Tampa Bay area show the lack of a big race at the top of the ticket may be a factor in low turnout.
According to the Florida Secretary of State, historically, turnout in the Presidential Preference Primary has not exceeded 50% since 1976. In the last six presidential preference primary elections, voter turnout has been as low as 19% in 2000 and as high as 46% in 2016.
The voting numbers for the counties in the Tampa Bay area show a voter turnout of approximately 22.11% as of 5:00 p.m.
- Find out how each county's voter turnout numbers are breaking down in real time here.
Looking a little deeper at the numbers, the majority of the early votes came in by mail. Approximately 91% of the votes in Pinellas County came in by mail, while 72% of the ballots were mailed in by Hillsborough County voters.
Still, even though the Presidential Preference Primary voting turnout numbers may be low, they usually do not reflect the turnout later in the year for the general election.
According to the Secretary of State's numbers, since 2000, voter turnout in the general election in Florida in November has been at least 70% in every presidential election year.
