If island residents actually go to the polls on Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary Day March 19, Republicans will be handed a ballot with seven names on it – even if only one is still running – while Democrats will find their primary was cancelled months ago due to lack of contenders.
Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary has gotten a bit confusing this year because of some unique circumstances.
In early December, the Florida Democratic Party canceled the state’s Democratic Presidential Preference Primary, awarding the state’s 28 delegates to President Joe Biden.
“Only one Democratic Candidate qualified for the Presidential Preference Primary Election (Joe Biden) so there was no need for a Democratic ballot,” Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan said.
The Republican Presidential Preference Primary ballot, meanwhile, was finalized back when there was still a large field of candidates running. As of press time, only two active GOP candidates for president remained, and it’s unclear if former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley would stay in the race after the Super Tuesday contest, in which 15 states plus American Samoa go to the polls on March 5.
Going into the Michigan primaries this past Tuesday, former President Donald Trump had won 110 delegates and Haley had won 20 delegates. Gov. Ron DeSantis had won nine delegates, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy had won three delegates from the Iowa Caucuses before suspending their campaigns and endorsing Trump. Georgia businessman Ryan Binkley remains on the Florida GOP ballot, but has yet to win any delegates in any GOP primaries or caucuses. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appear on the Florida ballot, but dropped out earlier in the election season. Senator Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Birgum were never on the Florida ballot.
Even if Trump is the last one standing when it comes time for Florida’s registered Republicans to vote, Florida GOP voters will still get the chance to go to the polls.
“Yes, Florida will still hold a GOP primary because other candidates on the ballot have just suspended their campaigns. The ballot lists the seven GOP candidates that were in the race when the State of Florida provided the certified list of candidates in December 2023,” Swan said.
The March 19 Presidential Preference Primary should not be confused with the local primary races for county offices, state legislators and members of Congress. That primary election is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Unlike other states such as New Hampshire which hold open presidential primaries, Florida is a closed-primary state, meaning that only voters who are registered members of the Republican Party can vote in the GOP primary.
Democrats, Independents and no-party-affiliation voters will not be permitted to vote on March 19. “There are no other races or ballot questions on the March 19th Presidential Preference Primary Election ballot,” Swan said.
As of Monday, Indian River County had 58,444 registered Republicans, 27,931 registered Democrats, 26,505 non-party-affiliated voters and 3,451 people registered as members of another party, for a total of 116,331 registered voters, according to the VoteIndianRiver.gov website.
The deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation for the March 19 contest has already passed, as the last day was Feb. 20. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot was 5 p.m. March 7.