Hillsborough Republicans Beating Out Democrats In Casting Early Votes

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — With options to vote early or cast a ballot by mail, as of Monday, 11,800 Hillsborough County residents have cast early ballots in the Aug. 23 primary and 335,032 have sent their vote-by-mail ballots to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office.

To date, the greatest number of voters casting early votes (1,455) have done so at the Bloomingdale Regional Library, with 833 Republicans voting and 500 Democrats casting ballots.

The next greatest number of ballots cast has been at the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library with a total of 1,251 votes cast including 575 Republicans and 562 Democrats.

Coming in third for early-voting activity is the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library with 1,131 people voting early including 584 Republicans and 446 Democrats.

As of July 25, the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 23 Florida primary, a total of 908,954 voters were registered in Hillsborough County including 340,696 Democrats, 284,715 Republicans and 283,543 who were either registered with no party affiliation or registered as independent.

Florida has a closed primary system, which means registered Democrats can only vote for Democrats and registered Republicans can only vote for Republicans, with one exception.

If only Republicans or only Democrats are registered to run for a seat, that race becomes a universal primary contest, allowing any registered voter to cast a ballot in the race.

For the Aug. 23 primary, there are two universal primary contests: one for Florida Senate District 20 race and one for the Hillsborough County Commission District 4 race.

The 283,543 registered voters who are independent or have no party affiliation can vote in the universal primary contests as well as nonpartisan races including races for school board and judges.

They can also vote for any referendums that apply to their voting precincts as well as countywide referendums.

On this year's primary ballot is one countywide referendum. The Hillsborough County School Board is asking voted to approve a 1 mil property tax increase running yearly from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2027, to increase the salaries of teachers and school support staff as well as expand art, music, physical education and workforce development programs at public schools.

Who's Running In The Primary?

Democratic Ballot

United States Senator

• Ricardo De La Fuente
• Val Demings
• Brian Rush
• William Sanchez

U.S. House Representative District 14

• Christopher Bradley
• Kathy Castor

U.S. House Representative District 15

• Gavin Brown
• Alan M. Cohn
• Eddie Geller
• Cesar Ramirez
• William VanHorn

Governor And Lieutenant Governor

• Charlie Crist and Cadance Daniel
• Nicole "Nikki" Fried and Robert L. Willis

Attorney General

• Aramis Ayala
• Jim Lewis
• Daniel Uhlfelder

Commissioner of Agriculture

• Naomi Esther Blemur
• J.R. Gaillot
• Ryan Morales

State Representative District 62

• Wengay "Newt" Newton
• Jesse Philippe
• Michele K. Rayner

Republican Ballot

U.S. House District 14

• James Judge
• Samar "Sam" Nashagh
• Jerry Torres

U.S. House District 15

• Demetries "Commander" Grimes
• Laurel Lee
• Kevin "Mac" McGovern
• Kelli Stargel
• Jackie Toledo

U.S. House District 16

• Vern Buchanan
• Martin Hyde

Commissioner of Agriculture

• James W. Shaw
• Wilton Simpson

State Representative District 65

• Karen Gonzalez Pittman
• Jake Hoffman
• Michael C. Minardi

State Representative District 68

• Paul Hatfield
• Lawrence McClure

Universal Primary And Nonpartisan Races

State Senator District 20

• Jim Boyd-Republican
• John Houman-Republican

Board of County Commissioners District 4

• Noelle Licor-Republican
• Michael Joseph Owen-Republican

Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 6

• Belinda Noah
• Wesley Tibbals

Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 37

• Nancy L. Jacobs
• Jared Smith

County Court Judge Group 14

• Melissa Black
• Alicia Whiting Bozich
• Linette "Starr" Brookins
• Mike Isaak

School Board Member District 2

• Damaris Allen
• Stacy Hahn

School Board Member District 4

• Hunter Gambrell
• Patricia "Patti" Rendon
• Danielle Smalley

School Board Member District 6

• Roshaun Gendrett
• Alysha "Aly Marie" Legge
• Karen Perez

Early Voting

Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer is reminding voters they can continue to vote early for the Aug. 23 primary every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 26 sites throughout Hillsborough County through Aug. 21 primary.

Click here for a list of early voting sites in Hillsborough County.

Residents voting early should bring one or two forms of identification that include your signature and photo.

Without proper identification, you may still vote a provisional ballot, which will later be evaluated by a canvassing board for eligibility.

Any of the following forms of photo identification are acceptable:

• Florida driver's license
• Florida ID card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• U.S. passport
• Debit or credit card
• Military ID
• Student ID
• Retirement center ID
• Neighborhood association ID
• Public assistance ID
• Veteran health ID (issued by Veterans Administration)
• Concealed weapon license
• Government employee ID

If your photo ID does not include your signature, you will be asked to provide another ID that has your signature.

You should also bring your sample ballot to the polling place with notes on how you plan to vote. By making your voting decisions before going to the polling place, you help keep the lines down.

Vote By Mail

Residents also have the option to vote by mail.

Any registered voter can vote by mail, formerly known as absentee voting. Floridians no longer need an excuse to choose this option.

The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed to you is no later than 5 p.m. on the 10th day before the election.

The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot be mailed to you is past but voters can still pick up ballots at any of our four Supervisor of Elections Offices.

The vote-by-mail ballot will include instructions on the proper way to mark and return your ballot. Read those instructions carefully.

If you are filling out a vote-by-mail ballot and make a mistake, let the elections office know. Voters can receive up to two replacements ballots before their ballot is cast. Once the ballot has been mailed to the elections office, dropped in a ballot box or inserted into a ballot-scanning machine, your ballot has been cast and no replacements can be issued.

Sign the return envelope and mail it or drop it off at the elections office no later than 7 p.m. on the day of the primary.

If you plan to mail your ballot, you should allow at least a week for your ballot to reach the elections office.

If you plan to drop your ballot off in person, there are secure ballot intake stations in each of the early voting locations during early voting hours and at the four elections offices during office hours.

See related story: Hillsborough Student Artist Creates New 'I Voted' Sticker

If you change your mind after receiving a vote-by-mail ballot and decide you want to vote in person, your vote-by-mail ballot can be canceled when you check in to vote by person.

When the elections office receives your ballot, it will check your signature against the signature on file. If your signature has changed, you can use an online voter registration application to bring your Florida driver's license or Florida ID signature into your voter record, or a paper voter registration application to update your signature. Your signature update must be received before your vote-by-mail ballot.

If you returned your vote-by-mail ballot but forgot to sign the envelope, or if there is a discrepancy with your signature, you need to complete and return a signature cure affidavit (English/Español) so that it is in one of the elections offices no later than 5 p.m. on the second day following the election.

If you can't get to a voting location, you can designate someone to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot for you. The designation must be authorized in writing. The earliest a designee can pick up your ballot is nine days before the primary.

A designee is limited to picking up vote-by-mail ballots for two other voters per election, not including their own ballot and the ballots for immediate family members. Immediate family members include a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the designee or designee's spouse. The designee must present a valid ID and submit an affidavit (English PDF/ Español PDF) to pick up the voter’s blank ballot. This affidavit is a combination form that includes the affidavit for ballot pick-up, the voter's written authorization for the designee and, if a request is not already on record, the voter’s request for a vote-by-mail ballot.

For primary day, you also have to complete this Election Day Absentee Ballot Delivery Affidavit to affirm that an emergency is keeping you from being able to vote in your assigned polling place.

Primary Day Voting

On the day of the primary, you must vote in your precinct. If you try to vote at the wrong polling place, your vote will not count.

For every election, the supervisor of elections has to change the location of some of polling places. Click on the Find My Precinct button to find your correct precinct and voting location, as well as information on polling places that have changed.

Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 23. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote, but if you arrive at the polling place after 7 p.m., you will not be allowed to vote.

To avoid delays at the polling place, bring one or two forms of current identification that include your signature and photo. Without proper identification, you may still vote a provisional ballot, which will later be evaluated by a canvassing board for eligibility. Any of the forms acceptable for early voting are also acceptable for election day voting.

If your photo ID does not include your signature, you will be asked to provide another ID that has your signature.

Voters are welcome to bring a sample ballot to the polling place marked with their choices so there's no delays in voting.

When you arrive at the polls:

1. Check in with your valid and current photo and signature ID.
2. Receive your paper ballot and proceed to a privacy booth.
3. Using the black pen provided, completely fill in the oval next to each of your selections.
4. Review your ballot. If you wish to make changes, request another ballot.
5. If you have any questions, ask a poll worker before you insert the ballot in the scanner. Once a ballot has been accepted, it cannot be retrieved.

If you are satisfied with your selections:

• Take your ballot to the optical scanner in the secrecy folder provided.
• Insert your ballot into the optical scan feeder.
• The scanner will record your votes and place your ballot into the locked ballot box.
• The scanner will alert you if your ballot appears blank or if it detects too many votes.
• You will have the option to either submit the ballot as is or make changes.
• You are not required to vote in every race or for every issue on the ballot, therefore, the scanner will not alert you of instances in which you did not vote.