presidential preference primary https://www.cfpublic.org/tags/presidential-preference-primary presidential preference primary en-US Copyright Mon, 22 Feb 2016 06:00:44 GMT Record Number of Voters Join Parties Ahead of Florida Primary https://www.cfpublic.org/2016-02-22/record-number-of-independent-voters-join-parties-ahead-of-primary Thousands of central Florida republicans and democrats today didn’t belong to either party last week. 90.7’s Renata Sago reports on what elections officials in Orange and Osceola counties are calling a record switch from no party affiliation ahead of the state’s presidential primary. voter_must_sign_mail-in_ballot

Elections supervisors in Orange and Osceola counties will close their books with record numbers of requests to join parties from unaffiliated voters. The latest data show more than 7,000 voters joined a major party in order vote in Florida’s closed primary on March 15th.

"As a presidential campaign begins to gear up as this one is, those who may be caught up in the middle are making decisions on which side to go to," Orange County supervisor of elections Bill Cowles.

Out of the 954 party change requests made in Osceola County between December and the February 15th deadline, 508 voters switched to democrat and 428 became republican. About 200 voters in major parties left those parties.

"We’ll have to wait to see if it holds up in terms of after we get past this presidential preference primary, do they revert back or do they stick?" says Cowles.

Elections staff in Orange County still have about 3,000 voter forms to sort through before the books close this week.

 

]]> Mon, 22 Feb 2016 06:00:44 GMT https://www.cfpublic.org/2016-02-22/record-number-of-independent-voters-join-parties-ahead-of-primary Renata Sago Unaffiliated Voters Join Parties To Vote In Florida Primary https://www.cfpublic.org/2016-02-15/independent-voters-declare-party-affiliation-to-vote-in-florida-primary The deadline to register to vote in the Florida primary is Tuesday. The race will help choose the presidential candidates for the November ballot. Election officials are urging unaffiliated voters to register with a major party in order to participate in the closed race. Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.
Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.

Tuesday is the last day to register to vote in Florida’s presidential primary. The race will help choose the presidential candidates for the November ballot. Because it is a closed primary, only the state’s registered Republicans and Democrats will be able to cast their ballots. With Florida having a winner-take-all policy for its Republican primary, the Republican candidate with the most votes will win the state's GOP delegates.

Florida is home to a growing number of independent voters, with the largest concentration in Osceola County.

“We have seen more activity than normal of people either switching party or changing from no party affiliation so they can vote," said elections supervisor Mary Jane Arrington. "I think people are either voting for or against someone this time.”

Arrington and other elections officials are urging unaffiliated voters to register with a major party in order to participate in the primary.

“I just sent an email to a gentlemen [telling him], you know, you can change to a party to vote, then you can change back if you need to," Arrington said. "There’s nothing stopping you from changing.”

The state’s presidential preference primary will take place on March 15th.

Editor's note: This story has been changed to clarify that Florida’s winner-take-all policy applies only to GOP candidates.

]]> Mon, 15 Feb 2016 06:00:37 GMT https://www.cfpublic.org/2016-02-15/independent-voters-declare-party-affiliation-to-vote-in-florida-primary Renata Sago