Early voting starts Monday for primary election

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Starting Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, you can get out to the polls for early voting in Duval County. Be aware there are a few changes this election cycle. New rules are in play.

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The Supervisor of Elections office is just one of the many locations where you can cast your vote in this year’s primary election. Here’s everything you need to know.

Early voting in Duval for the Florida primary starts tomorrow. Election officials expect a big turnout because it’s both the primary election and the special election for JSO sheriff.

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“There’s a lot of different candidates from governor to senator so there’s a lot of candidates on this ballot. We have 601 ballot styles in Duval County so all of them are different depending on where you live in town and I think the sheriff is a real big deal for some folks,” says Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan.

More than 26,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.

Or you can vote at one of the 20 voting sites around town.

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“I’m going to vote because our voice counts and that’s the main thing. We need to make changes you know, and the change begins with me,” says Beverly McClain.

If you vote in person, you can try voting with the express vote option. There, you can electronically mark your ballot before sending it in.

Voter Frank Coelho says he is voting in this year’s election “because it’s important, this is our community, this is where we live, and this is where we should be heard.”

There will also be drop boxes at the early voting sites. Both are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Now please take note that if you want your vote to count, you’re going to have to bring a picture ID. It’s required now. Watch for your new voter ID in the mail.

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“We like the Florida driver’s license simply because it’ll populate our stream and it makes processing much cleaner. You can have a Florida ID or a military ID, but your signature and your picture ID must be on the ballot,” says Hogan.

Watch for your new voter ID in the mail. Every registered voter in the county is getting one.

Aug. 23 is a primary election for everyone but it’s a special election for the sheriff. Sheriff candidates will need at least 50% of the votes to win. Otherwise there’ll be a runoff election in November during the general election.