BROWARD COUNTY, Florida. – Early voting for the Aug. 20 primary election began Saturday in Broward County.

Cody Weddle of Local 10 said he didn’t see many voters come to the polls on the first day.

“I would just say, ‘Don’t sleep on the August election,'” said Joe Scott, Broward’s elections director. “You know, this is important. You know, this is the time when we elect our school board members — there are important positions in the district that will be decided in this August election. And in these elections, people think, ‘Oh, well, I’ll just wait. This is the primary. I’ll wait and vote in November for the general election.’ But many of those positions will actually not be on the ballot in November.”

In these elections, in many races, such as the U.S. Senatorial race, only party-affiliated voters can cast their vote.

In other elections, however, such as for judicial offices and school board positions, any voter can stand.

Even races in which no candidate from an opposing party has registered are open to all voters in a so-called general primary.

“We have a number of positions where every candidate running happens to be a registered Democrat,” Scott said. “When that happens, we have what’s called a general primary. Whether you’re a Republican, no party affiliation, a minor party – whatever your affiliation is – everyone is going to watch those races.”

Early voting in Broward runs through August 18.

There are 28 early voting locations in Broward County.

Any voter can vote at any location during early voting. All locations are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“The great thing about early voting is that you can vote anywhere in the county,” Scott said. “So that could be near work, near your home, near the home of a friend or family member that you want to vote with. You really have a lot of flexibility during early voting and you want to take advantage of that.”

For those who received a mail-in ballot, there are drop boxes at all polling places. Early voting began Monday in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

To view all early voting locations in Broward County, Click here.

Everything you need to know about early voting can be found in Local 10 Guide to the 2024 election.