VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know to vote in the Florida Aug. 20 election

ORLANDO, Fla. – Another election year is here and there’s no time like the present to make sure you are ready to vote.

You may already know that 2024 is a presidential election year. But before we get to that big election in November, we have a primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20, and early voting is underway now.

In this election, we have party primaries and nonpartisan races in the following positions:

• 1 U.S. Senate seat
• Several congressional seats
• Members of the Florida Legislature (Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives)
• State attorneys
• County offices (commissioners, school board members, sheriffs, supervisors of elections, etc.)
• Judgeships
• City races and referenda

[RELATED: Here’s everything you need to know to vote in Florida in 2024]

Here’s what you need to know.

Is your voter registration up to date?

Before you even go to a poll, make sure your voter registration is in good standing. To do this, go to Register to Vote Florida.gov and click on the “Am I Already Registered?” button. This is an official website from the Florida Division of Elections and it will be able to pull your information from the voter rolls.

When it pulls up your registration, make sure your address and voter status are correct.

Your address needs to be updated so you are voting in the right races, and also so you are assigned to the proper polling precinct for Election Day. Your voter status should say “Active,” not “Inactive.”

If they aren’t, you can easily update it by contacting your county’s supervisor of elections office. You can find your county’s website HERE. Both of these things can also be updated at a polling place, but it is better to do it before you vote.

If you know you registered to vote, but you can’t get your voter information to come up, call your supervisor of elections office. If your political party is not accurate, you also need to contact your supervisor of elections.

The deadline to make sure you can vote in this election was in July. If you want to make sure you are registered to vote for November, the deadline is Oct. 7. So, get registered to vote as soon as possible.

What’s on your ballot?

A lot of the races on the Aug. 20 ballot are only for people who are registered as a Democrat or Republican, however, there are a number of universal primaries. That’s when only candidates of one party qualify to run for office, so the primary is open to all voters.

The following races are universal primaries:

• Florida Senate District 15 (part of Orange County)
• Florida House District 41 (part of Orange County)
• Florida House District 44 (part of Orange County)
• Ninth-Judicial Circuit Public Defender (Orange and Osceola counties)
• County commission races in Flagler, Marion, Polk and Sumter counties
• Some constitutional officer races, like the Marion County sheriff or the Sumter County schools superintendent

There are also non-partisan races in every county. Many of them are school board races or judge races. Orange County’s three commission races are all nonpartisan, as is Volusia County’s council chair race. Then there are 16 cities and towns with government races or ballot referendums.

Every county supervisor of elections office will have sent you a sample ballot in the mail. This is an unofficial version of your ballot so you know ahead of time what it will look like when you vote. You can even pre-fill the sample ballot out and take it with you to the voting booth to help you fill out your real ballot.

So check your mailbox. You can also see your sample ballot online at your county supervisor of elections website. Find a link to your Central Florida county’s website below.

• ORANGE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SEMINOLE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• OSCEOLA COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• VOLUSIA COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• BREVARD COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• MARION COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• LAKE COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• SUMTER COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• FLAGLER COUNTY: View your sample ballot
• POLK COUNTY: View your sample ballot

3 ways to vote

EARLY VOTING

Early voting has now concluded.

VOTE BY MAIL

The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot has already passed, so this is for folks who already have their ballots.

Early voting locations once again have Secure Ballot Intake Stations. These are staffed drop boxes where people who vote by mail can turn in their ballot. It’s very convenient for people who are voting by mail but concerned about their ballot getting through the U.S. Postal Service by Election Day. Your vote-by-mail ballot must be in the supervisor of elections office by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20. That is in the office on that day, not postmarked by that day.

Some other things to know about voting by mail:

• Make sure you sign the envelope provided for your VBM ballot.
• Your signature will be scrutinized when your ballot gets to the elections office, and if workers don’t feel your signature matches the one on record, you will be asked to “cure” your ballot. They will try to reach out to you any way they can, via email, phone or mail, whatever contact information they have for you. You must cure your ballot for it to count.
• Every county supervisor of elections office has a way for you to track your VBM ballot to make sure it is returned and accepted in time and to notify you if there is an issue. Go to your county supervisor of elections office and make sure you are signed up for it. In Central Florida most are using a system called BallotTrax.
• If you don’t think you can get your ballot in by the deadline, you can take it to your polling precinct on Election Day. You surrender the VBM ballot, and they give you a regular ballot.

We go further in-depth on voting by mail HERE.

ON ELECTION DAY

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, you must vote at your assigned polling precinct. All polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Don’t forget to bring a photo ID.

Your county supervisor of elections will include your precinct information when they send you your sample ballot, but you can also find it online.

ORANGE COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place

SEMINOLE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

OSCEOLA COUNTY: Find your Election Day polling place

VOLUSIA COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

BREVARD COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

MARION COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

LAKE COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

SUMTER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

FLAGLER COUNTY: Find Your Election Day polling place

POLK COUNTY: Find Your Election polling place

Some other things to know about voting on Election Day:

• You can bring whatever guides you need to help you vote.
• Color in the circle next to each option on the ballot. You’d be surprised how many people don’t know this and do it wrong.
• If you mess up your ballot, you can ask for a new one.
• You do not have to vote for every race on the ballot. So if there’s something you truly don’t know, you can leave it blank.
• You can wear campaign shirts or hats to a polling place. You just can’t actively campaign.
• If for any reason your vote is challenged, and the challenge is accepted, ask for a provisional ballot. All this means is your ballot will be subject to additional scrutiny by the county canvassing board, and you may have to submit additional documents. But your vote will count.
• If you are still in line at the polling place when 7 p.m. hits on Election Day, STAY IN LINE. As long as you are in line, you have to be allowed to vote.

We’ve listed 35 Florida election myths and misinformation that we’ve debunked HERE.