{"id":374706,"date":"2026-08-18T14:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/374706\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:54:11","slug":"its-election-day-what-voters-need-to-know-for-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/374706\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Election Day. What voters need to know for primaries."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Voters are hitting the polls today across Florida, casting ballots in a variety of primary elections.<\/p>\n<p>Most primary elections will determine which candidates for federal, state and local offices advance to the general election in November, though some of today\u2019s races could determine a winner without progressing to a November election.<\/p>\n<p>In Florida\u2019s closed primary system, voters can only vote in the primaries of the party they are registered with. However, some elections in Palm Beach and Broward counties will be open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what voters need to know.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Vote Here signs at the Broward County Supervisor of Elections headquarters in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, July 13, 2026.\" width=\"3000\" height=\"433\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787064851_449_tfl-l-broward-vote-by-mail-007.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"13424690\" \/>Signs are lined up at the Broward County Supervisor of Elections headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<br \/>\nWhich races are on the ballot?<\/p>\n<p>Partisan primaries for Florida governor, U.S. Senate and House, and state legislative seats are on the ballot, as are local races for County Commission and more.<\/p>\n<p>Certain races, including School Board and judicial races, are nonpartisan and open to all voters. Others are \u201cuniversal\u201d contests, where all candidates have the same party affiliation and the winner won\u2019t face opposition in the general election. Those contests are open to all voters as well.<\/p>\n<p>Because of congressional redistricting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/2026\/04\/29\/republican-led-florida-legislature-approves-desantis-redistricting-map\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">earlier this year<\/a>, voters may no longer be in the same South Florida congressional district as when they last voted.<\/p>\n<p>Voters can check their congressional district online at their election supervisor\u2019s website, at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/browardvotes.gov\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">browardvotes.gov<\/a>, for Broward County, and <a href=\"http:\/\/votepalmbeach.gov\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">votepalmbeach.gov<\/a>, for Palm Beach County. Or voters can check the new voter information card sent to them from the office.<\/p>\n<p>How can I vote?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a registered voter with a valid photo ID, you\u2019re set.<\/p>\n<p>There are 366 voting locations open in Palm Beach County, and 346 will be open in Broward County, according to the elections offices.<\/p>\n<p>The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in both counties. Voters must vote at the polling location listed on their voter information card. Voter\u2019s polling location also may be found on the Supervisor of Elections website.<\/p>\n<p>A voter\u2019s identification must include a photo and signature. If a voter brings a photo ID without a signature, they can supplement that with a second ID that has the person\u2019s signature on it.<\/p>\n<p>Permitted forms of ID include a Florida driver\u2019s license or ID card, a U.S. passport, a military ID, a student ID, debit or credit card, or a concealed weapon license. Other acceptable photo IDs include retirement center, neighborhood association, public assistance, veteran health, or government employee IDs.<\/p>\n<p>Residents who are not already registered to vote in the state of Florida may not vote in this election.<\/p>\n<p>Vote-by-mail ballots<\/p>\n<p>In both counties, vote-by-mail ballots must reach the Main Office of the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. to be counted.<\/p>\n<p>Voters can drop off their vote-by-mail ballots in person at either a Supervisor of Elections office or the Secure Ballot Intake Stations located outside of those offices.<\/p>\n<p>The Main Office for Palm Beach County is located at 4301 Cherry Road, in West Palm Beach, and the Main Office for Broward is located at 4650 NW 21st Ave., in Fort Lauderdale. Both offices will be open until 7 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Other Supervisor of Elections offices will be open until 5 p.m. in Palm Beach County and 7 p.m. in Broward County.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, a voter with a vote-by-mail ballot can vote in person instead. They will need to hand over their ballot at their designated polling location and request an in-person ballot instead.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/votepalmbeach.gov\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">votepalmbeach.gov<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/browardvotes.gov\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">browardvotes.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Voters are hitting the polls today across Florida, casting ballots in a variety of primary elections. Most primary&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2715,249,251,250,114,115,99,109],"class_list":["post-374706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-elections","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}