Early voting in Orange and Osceola County starts Monday, August 5. In Lake County, early voting starts Thursday and the rest of Central Florida begins on Saturday.
Florida is a closed primary state, which means voters registered with a political party can vote for all the races on the ballot.
But UCF political science professor Aubrey Jewett said undeclared or independent voters still have a lot to vote for in terms of the nonpartisan races.
“School board positions and judicial positions are probably the biggest ones. And so there's something for everybody to vote for,” Jewett said.
Jewett said voters must bring a form of ID with their current address on it, to the ballot box, in order to vote.
Orange County Supervisor of Elections spokesperson Christopher Heath said voters can also bring aides into the ballot box, to help them remember who they’d like to vote for.
“You can bring in your sample ballot. When you go to vote, you are going to need to bring photo ID and signature identification,” Heath said.
Heath said despite Hurricane Debby which brought rain and high winds to the area, there’s been a steady stream of voters coming in to cast their ballots early.
“Pretty good turnout so far, especially here at the Supervisor of Elections Office, which is also an early voting location,” Heath said. "We've had a steady stream of people coming in. So, we anticipate that'll continue on through the rest of this week and next week.”
UCF professor Aubrey Jewett echoed these sentiments. He said he expects the turnout for early voting to be strong, as it usually is in a presidential election year, with several hotly contested Congressional and school board races.
“The wonderful thing about early voting is that it stretches for a number of days. And that's why people like it, it's very convenient. So, if you have terrible weather for a day or two people can just wait it out. I expect that ultimately, we will have turnout numbers as good or better than two years ago,” Jewett said.
As a political science professor, Jewett concluded with what he always tells his college students who are early in their voting careers, regardless of their political affiliation: “Registering and voting is an important part of your civic responsibilities. And it's your opportunity to express your opinion about who should be making decisions in courtrooms, who should be making decisions on school boards. And so it's a great opportunity, get out there and vote.”
Here’s what counts as voter ID in Florida:
- Florida driver’s license
- Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
- United States passport
- Debit or credit card
- Military identification
- Student identification
- Retirement center identification
- Neighborhood association identification
- Public assistance identification
- Veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
- License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06
- Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government, the state, a county, or a municipality
Here’s a list of dates, times, and sites for early voting in Central Florida:
Orange County: Early voting is open August 5, 2024, through August 18, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. daily. Early voting sites are located here.
Osceola County: Early voting locations are open Monday, August 5, 2024, through Sunday, August 18, 2024, 9:00am to 6:00 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
Seminole County: Early voting locations are open Saturday, August 10 through Saturday, August 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
Volusia County: Vote early Saturday, August 10 through Saturday, August 17 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
Brevard County: Vote early Saturday, August 10 through Saturday, August 17, 2024. Polls are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
Flagler County: Voting early starts Saturday, August 10 and runs through Saturday, August 17, 2024. Vote each day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. including weekend days. Early voting sites are located here.
Polk County: Vote at one of our 10 convenient locations August 10 through 17. Early voting hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
Marion County: Early voting runs from August 10 to August 17. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early voting sites are located here.
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