Polls will open on Tuesday morning for a Florida primary election unlike almost any in recent history. In what is already a contentious election year, voters and poll workers will have to take extra precautions to stop the spread of coronavirus, while ballots are cast.
All congressional districts between Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast will have races to watch Tuesday night, including contentious Republican primaries in the 21st and 22nd congressional districts. In the 21st district, which covers much of West Palm Beach, six Republican candidates are vying to run for the seat currently occupied by longtime Democratic Congresswoman Lois Frankel. They are Christian Acosta, Liz Felton, Laura Loomer, Aaron Scanlan, Reba Sherrill and Michael Vilardi.
Rep. Frankel has a primary challenger herself, Guido Weiss.
In the 22nd district, four republicans are looking to challenge Rep. Ted Deutch, who is running unopposed in the Democratic Primary. They are Fran Flynn, Jessi Melton, James Pruden and Darlene Swaffar.
In northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, Representative Brian Mast is facing primary challenger Nicholas Vessio. Democrats Pam Keith and Oz Vazquez are competing to challenge Mast in November.
In addition to jam-packed congressional primaries, there are several contentious races at the local and state level.
In State Senate District 29, former State Rep. Irv Slosberg and current State Rep. Tina Polsky are duking it out in a race that’s earned a lot of TV time, partially due to the race’s occasionally tense nature. The district covers a large portion of southern Palm Beach County.
And in State House District 88, which covers parts of Delray Beach all the way up to Lake Worth Beach, current State Rep. Al Jacquet is fending off four primary challengers, including well known Lake Worth Beach Commissioner Omari Hardy.
More than 170,000 mail in ballots have been processed and counted so far in Palm Beach County.
Mail ballots must be in to the proper county Supervisor of Elections Office by 7 p.m. on election night in order to count in the State of Florida. Mail in ballots can also be dropped off inside a Supervisor of Elections Office or in a secure box often clearly marked outside the building.
Mail ballots must be signed in the proper place. Those signatures are cross-checked against voter registration records, to prevent fraud.
In Florida, you also must have proper identification to vote. If you arrive to vote without identification, you will be allowed to vote on a provisional ballot. The signature on that ballot will then be matched against the signature on your voter registration records. If they match, the vote will be counted.
Also, remember that Florida voters will fill out ovals to indicate their choice, rather than draw lines connecting candidates, as it was in years past.