Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary Election is going forward today as scheduled despite concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. Arizona and Illinois are also going forward with their primary elections today. Officials in Ohio declared a public health emergency hours before polls were set to open this morning. Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana have also decided to push back their primary election dates, possibly to June.
Voting precincts in Florida that had been inside assisted living facilities have been relocated. Concerns about COVID-19 have prompted some poll workers to drop out and that’s also caused some precinct locations to change.
Despite these challenges, long lines to vote are not expected because there’s only one race on the ballot and 1.9 million Floridians have already voted early or voted by mail, including more than 100,000 voters combined in Lee and Collier Counties.
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee is reminding voters that if they’ve been ordered to self-isolate, are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus or simply don’t want to risk exposure they can still cast a ballot. In order to do so, a registered voter needs to designate someone to deliver their vote by mail ballot and complete a signed affidavit. Those vote by mail ballots, along with the affidavit, need to be returned to their Supervisor of Elections office by the close of polls at 7:00 p.m.
Southwest Florida voters with questions can contact the Lee County Supervisor of Elections Office by calling 239-LEE-VOTE or the Collier County Supervisor of Elections office by calling 239-252-VOTE.
For printing purposes, Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary ballots had to be finalized back in December, meaning a number of candidates who have since dropped out of the race will still appear on the ballot.
In Lee County, voting precinct changes are as follows:
Precinct 23: Cinnamon Cove Clubhouse location has moved to Faith United Methodist Church Family Life Center at 15690 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers 33908
Precinct 83: Shell Point Village Church location has moved to Precinct 84 at Peace Lutheran Church, 15840 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers 33908
Precinct 101: Platinum Point Yacht Club location has moved to Precinct 112 at the Northwest Regional Library, 519 Chiquita Blvd. North, Cape Coral 33900
Precinct 108: Gulf Coast Village location has moved to Precinct 106 at the Cape Coral Branch Office, 1039 SE 9th Ave., Cape Coral 33900