After months of intensive election campaigning, today it comes down to 12 hours.
Polls for the Brevard County primary are open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. And within hours of the polls closing, we should know who the winners and losers are.
About half of the voters likely to participate in the primary have already cast their ballots, either through in-person early voting or by mail-in ballot.
Here’s what you need to know about Primary Election Day in Brevard County:
What are the rules for voting in a primary election?
Since there are no primaries in Florida, only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary and only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary.
All registered voters can participate in nonpartisan primaries, such as those for the Brevard School Board, judicial elections, and municipal elections for mayor and city council seats.
In most partisan primaries in Brevard County, Republicans are the most active.
How many polling stations are there?
There are 89 polling stations covering 162 electoral districts. Some polling stations cover two or more districts.
How many people will be working on primary day?
There will be 938 full-time daily workers.
What should voters know about the voting process?
“On Election Day, it is important for voters to know that they must vote at their county-specific polling place,” said Brevard County Elections Supervisor Tim Bobanic.
You can find this information on VoteBrevard.gov under “Find Your Precinct,” on your sample ballot, or printed on your voter information card.
What do voters need to bring to the polling station?
To vote, you must bring a valid and current signature and a photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.
All legal forms of identification can be found at VoteBrevard.gov.
What non-partisan primaries are there in which all registered voters can participate?
Brevard School Board (Districts 3 and 4); 18th Judicial District Judge (Group 17); Brevard County Judge (Groups 6 and 10); Mayor of Palm Bay; Palm Bay City Council (Seats 2 and 3); Mayor of Titusville.
Which Republican primaries are only open to Republicans?
U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative (District 8); Florida Senate (District 19); Florida House of Representatives (Districts 32 and 33); Brevard County Tax Collector; Brevard County Election Commissioner; Brevard County County Commission (Districts 1, 3, and 5); State Republican Committeeman and Republican Committeewoman; multiple positions as Republican precinct committeeman and committeewoman.
Which Democratic primaries are only open to Democrats?
U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative (District 8); Florida House of Representatives (District 33); multiple Democratic District Committeeman positions.
Will any races be decided in the primaries?
In school board and judicial elections, a majority of the votes go to a candidate with more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, a runoff election will take place on election day in November between the two candidates with the most votes.
Unless there is a runoff, the mayoral elections in Palm Bay and Titusville as well as two races for seats on the Palm Bay City Council could also be decided.
The seats for Republicans and Democrats on state and district committees are decided in the primaries.
The statewide elections for Brevard County Supervisor of Elections and Brevard County Tax Collector will also be decided in practice. The winners of the Republican primary will face only candidates who cannot be registered in the district in the general election on November 5th.
What is the deal with the runoff elections?
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in a non-partisan election with three or more candidates, a runoff election will be held on November 5 between the two candidates with the most votes.
The elections affected include Brevard School Board (District 4); Brevard County Judge (District 6); Palm Bay Mayor; Palm Bay City Council (Seats 2 and 3); Titusville Mayor.
What voter turnout is expected in the primaries?
Bobanic said turnout in local primaries in even-numbered years is typically 25 to 35 percent of registered voters.
How many people are eligible to participate in the primaries?
As of the deadline, 430,721 voters were registered in Brevard County.
These include 194,533 Republicans, 113,904 Democrats, 107,699 voters with no party affiliation and 14,585 members of minor political parties.
How many people have participated in the primaries so far?
As of Tuesday morning, 14.76% of eligible voters had participated in the primary election, including 23,221 in the eight-day early voting period and 40,327 in the mail-in ballot.
Is it too late to register to vote or change your party affiliation in time for the primary election?
It’s too late. The deadline to register for the primaries was July 22.
How can voters speed up the process at the ballot box?
Bobanic said to speed up voting, voters are encouraged to bring their pre-marked sample ballot with them to the voting booth.
What if you have mail-in ballots that you haven’t sent in yet?
Postal voters should remember that their ballots must arrive at the election office by 7 p.m. today in order to be counted. They can be dropped off at any of the four election offices during business hours.
These are the office locations:
- Melbourne: 1515 Sarno Road, Building A.
- Palm Bay: 450 Cogan Drive SE.
- Titusville: 400 South St., Suite 1F.
- Viera: 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building C, Suite 105.
Where can I find election results?
FLORIDA TODAY will post live results as soon as the Brevard Elections Office begins releasing them, which is typically shortly after polls close at 7 p.m.
Here is the link to our 2024 primary results page if you want to bookmark it now. Here is the URL: https://www.floridatoday.com/elections/results/local/
There will also be online election reports after polling stations close.
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at [email protected], at X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54
