More than 650,000 ballots have been cast for the Aug. 18 primary, including just under 29,000 using the “early voting” option that until Thursday was available in just 10 counties.
Numbers posted Thursday morning by the Division of Elections showed more than 278,000 registered Democrats submitted mail ballots and just over 12,000 went to early voting locations in Bradford, Calhoun, Hendry, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Putnam and Santa Rosa counties.
Registered Republican voters had cast a little more than 245,000 mail ballots and 14,000 went to the early voting locations in the 10 counties, which have offered the in-person option since Monday.
Supervisors in Hardee, Highlands, Lake, Levy and Nassau counties started offering the process mostly at local elections offices and libraries on Thursday. Early in-person voting begins Friday in Alachua, Citrus, Duval and Osceola counties.
Starting Saturday and running through Aug. 15, all 67 counties are required to offer the in-person voting option.
Data from the state also show nearly 97,600 voters registered without a party voted by mail and 2,180 went to early voting locations. People registered with minor parties accounted for almost 12,000 mail ballots and 250 early in-person votes.