Voter turnout in Leon County's presidential primary so far has been about 10%, according to Supervisor of Elections Mark Early. There are several reasons for the lower trend.
First, there's the Republican primary. Democrats have nominated Joe Biden as their only candidate, and only registered Republicans can vote on this ballot since there are no other ballots available in Leon.
“Parties with incumbents running for re-election never go through a primary nomination process because, at least in Florida, the way Florida law works is to nominate incumbents,” Early said. If there is only one name, there is no need to hold an election. And both parties do it. This year, the Democratic Party will do it. ”
Second, the outcome of the primary is almost certain, Early said.
“There's a lot of reasons, but frankly, we're very late in the Florida presidential primary,” he said. “And as most people know, there's only one candidate who hasn't canceled his campaign, so I think Florida voters are thinking, by and large, that that's a foregone conclusion. ”
Students at Florida State University and Florida A&M University also don't vote in large numbers, although both campuses have voting locations. It's spring break.
Roughly 25 percent of Leon County's voters are Republicans, so there are only about 50,000 voters, and 5,500 have cast ballots so far, Early said.
Today (Thursday) is the 6th day of early voting. It ends on Sunday, and Tuesday the 19th marks Election Day.
