FL Election 2020: Hillsborough County's Primary Results

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m., President Donald Trump was already the clear winner in the Republican primary in Hillsborough County.

Trump received 92.94 percent, or 68,126 votes.

Former Vice President Joe Biden garnered 55.21 percent, or 66,408 votes, in the Democratic primary with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders receiving 26.56 percent, or 31,940 votes.

The Supervisor of Elections Office said 168,395 of Hillsborough County's eligible 620,859 voters cast ballots in the primary, a $27.1 percent turnout.

The majority, 105,104 were vote by mail ballots, with 42,010 casting early votes. According to the elections supervisor, 20,281 people waited until Election Day to vote.

Concerns about the coronavirus outbreak kept many Hillsborough County voters away from the polls for Tuesday's presidential preference primary. And voters who braved the trip to their polling place said they were met with confusion.

Some volunteer poll workers failed to show up. Those who did show up had to divide the tasks among fewer people, slowing down the voting process.

Valrico resident Yvette Hammett described her polling place at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds as a "ghost town."

"When I arrived a little before 9 a.m., there were only two other voters there," she told Patch. "After I filled out my ballot, I couldn't see where to take it. A volunteer guided me and said, 'We were supposed to have 12 people today, but only four showed up.'"

Other voters showed up at the wrong precinct due to last-minute shuffling of precincts at assisted living facilities, which now have restricted access.

Residents who were able to vote came to the polls armed with plenty of hand sanitizer and wipes.

Tampa Bay voters fared better than voters in other parts of the state, however. Delray Beach resident Phil Metzler said he never got the chance to vote.

"My precinct never opened up for voting," he said. "The reason given was that the person who has the ability to open the machines never showed up."

He blamed Florida Gov Ron DeSantis for failing to follow the example of governors in Georgia and Ohio, who postponed the primaries in their states.

"As our governor has said, we voted in the Civil War," said Metzler. "I think I would have survived better voting during that time period than I would have today. I feel my right to vote has been suppressed or, better yet, stolen."