Early voting begins Monday
Orange, Osceola counties kick off primaries
Early voting for the March 17 presidential primaries begins Monday in much of Central Florida.
Any voter who registered with a party by Feb. 18 can vote in that party’s closed primary.
In Orange County, 18 early voting locations will be available across the county to cast an early ballot. Early voting in Orange lasts from Monday, March 2 until Sunday, March 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Voting locations are listed at ocfelections.com.
Voters of any party and unaffiliated voters can also vote in municipal elections in Apopka, Belle Isle, Eatonville, Maitland, Winter Garden and Winter Park, and can cast votes at any of the early voting locations.
In Osceola County, seven early voting locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday, March 2 until Sunday, March 15. The locations are listed at voteosceola.com.
In Lake County, 11 early voting locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Thursday, March 5 until Saturday, March 14. Locations are listed at lakevotes.com.
In Seminole County, seven early voting locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Saturday, March 7 to Saturday, March 14. Locations are listed at www.voteseminole.org.
There were no scheduled municipal elections in Seminole, Osceola or Lake counties.
Voters need to bring photo and signature identification. Acceptable forms of photo identification include drivers licenses, a Florida ID card, a U.S. passport, a debit or credit card, military ID, student ID, retirement center ID, neighborhood association ID, public assistance ID, a Florida concealed weapon or firearm license, a government employee ID, or a veteran health ID.
If a voter’s picture identification does not contain a signature, they will be asked to show an additional identification.
Democratic primary voters are cautioned that additional candidates could drop out following Tuesday’s Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states, the last major primaries before Florida’s March 17 election.
In 2016, former Gov. Jeb Bush dropped out of the Republican race two weeks before his home state’s primary, but 43,511 people wound up voting for him either in early voting or via mail-in ballots.
Sixteen Democratic candidates are listed on the party’s Florida primary ballot, but half of them have dropped out since December.
Four candidates are listed in the Republican primary, including President Donald Trump, though one other candidate, Joe Walsh, has since dropped out.