Florida’s presidential primary

isn’t until March 15, but early voting begins today in Orange and Lake counties. We’ve got details.

The Florida presidential primary is more than two weeks away, but many voters aren’t waiting.

Absentee voting has already begun in earnest, and early voting at certain polling locations begins today in Orange and Lake counties and on Saturday in Seminole and Osceola counties.

Election officials are warning voters to make sure they vote for someone still actually in the race — or, in the case of some campaign advisers, to vote for someone who will likely still be in the race on March 15 when the state’s primary is held.

Several candidates who have dropped out of the race, including most recently former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush but also Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Martin O’Malley, are all still on the ballot in their respective primaries.

If a candidate officially informs the state that he or she has withdrawn, then supervisors of elections can place signs at polls and notices in ballots. But none of the former candidates still on the ballot has done so.

“Candidates go around telling people they are ‘suspending’ their campaign, but we can’t tell voters that if they vote for a certain candidate, their vote doesn’t count,” said Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles.

Some campaigns are stressing to absentee and early voters that more candidates may yet drop out before the Florida primary.

“Marco’s campaign is built to last,” said Marco Rubio adviser Alex Burgos.

Casting a ballot for Rubio means “Florida voters voting today will be voting for someone who will be in the race on March 15,” he said.

In Lake County, more than 9,000 absentee ballots had been received by mid-week, along with more than 7,000 in Osceola and about 10,000 in Seminole.

In Orange as of Thursday, Cowles said, more than 19,000 absen- tee ballots had been returned out of more than 82,000 requests.

Officials say voters should probably wait at least until the Tuesday primaries, the last big day of contests before Florida, to see if their preferred candidate is still in the race or competitive by then.

“That will determine who’s really in play on March 15 in Florida,” Cowles said.

Early voting, meanwhile, has grown from 12 to 17 locations since 2012, when 18,412 voted early. More than 37,000 voted early in 2008, the last time both presidential primaries were contested.

“We’re a service industry community, and the convenience of early voting helps with turnout,” Cowles said.

The 2014 election was the first time that early voting and absentee votes were more than the votes at the polls on election day.

“That is a trend we fully expect to continue,” Cowles said.