Florida voters were forced to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s Democratic primary at the height of a global pandemic that has closed businesses and schools and forced millions to stay inside.
Turnout in the state’s Democratic primary surpassed the 1.7 million who casted ballots four years ago, however in Miami-Dade and Broward County, voter turnout saw slight dips.
Less registered Democrats voted in this year’s primary in both counties, while overall voter turnout saw a steeper decline.
In Broward, a little over 25% of registered voters casted their ballots.
In Miami-Dade, just 15% of registered voters made their voices heard despite an increase in registered voters.
The reason could very well be the minimal opposition President Trump faced in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, as turnout for registered republicans in both counties went from hundreds-of-thousands in 2016 to tens-of-thousands in 2020.
Joe Biden swept to victory in Florida as well as Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday, increasingly building pressure on Bernie Sanders to abandon his campaign.
It was a presidential primary continuously upended by the novel coronavirus.
Election officials across Florida scrambled to make last-minute changes to consolidate voting sites as poll workers dropped out of fear for the virus.
Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to push ahead with primary voting, saying he believed the election could be run safely despite the outbreak.
Broward officials said they received 16 requests to move polling stations – there were 421 polling places in total.
