An understanding of Florida’s primary election process is crucial if you want your votes to make a difference. That’s because the laws governing primary elections in Florida are different from those in other states, and some rules even vary by political party.
Here is some information to help you be a more informed voter in the upcoming primaries.
Partisan vs. nonpartisan elections
Partisan elections involve political parties. In partisan primary elections, voters choose the parties’ candidates to face off in the general election. The candidate who receives the most votes wins.
Examples of partisan primaries are the presidential preference primary and the primaries held in August of even-numbered years for partisan political offices like senator and county commissioner.
Nonpartisan elections do not consider political parties. The candidate who gets 50% of the votes + 1 is declared the winner. If no candidate gets the majority of the votes, the top two vote-getters face off in the general election. Examples are elections for school boards and judges.
Florida is a closed primary state
Florida is one of just ten states in the country with a closed primary system. The others are Delaware, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wyoming. That’s according to the National Conference of State Legislatures as of Jul. 19, 2025.
How you are registered in a closed primary state determines which party’s primary elections you may vote in.
Specifically, in Florida, only those registered with a party may vote in its partisan primary. For example, only registered Republicans may vote in the Republican Party primary, and only registered Democrats may vote in the Democratic Party primary.
Independent or unaffiliated voters are, by definition, excluded from participating in either party’s nomination contest. This is intended to prevent “cross-over” voting.
The deadline to register with a party to vote in its primary is 29 days before election day. That deadline is referred to as the “book closing date.”
The universal primary and the role of write-in candidates
In 1998, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that created an exception to the state’s closed primary rule. Under this amendment, if all the candidates for an office are from the same political party and there is no opposition in the general election, then all registered voters—regardless of party affiliation—are allowed to vote in that party’s primary. This is known as a “universal primary.”
But in 2012, both a federal district court (in Lacasa v. Townsley) and a Florida appeals court (in Telli v. Snipes) ruled that a write-in candidate counts as general election opposition, even if they have little chance of winning. In both instances, Democratic Party candidates were at the center of the disputes, and the Democratic Party was the one accused—implicitly or explicitly—of exploiting the write-in provision to keep primaries closed.
As a result, the presence of a write-in candidate keeps the primary closed to voters who aren’t registered with the party. In practice, this ruling has allowed political parties to avoid holding universal primaries simply by recruiting a write-in candidate to run in the general election.
Conclusion
Understanding Florida’s closed primary system and primary election process is vital for informed voting.
Awareness of the distinction between partisan and nonpartisan elections and the need to register with a political party in a timely manner to participate in its closed primary is critical.
It’s also essential to be on the lookout for exceptions, like universal primaries and the write-in loophole.
Many, if not most, Florida elections are for partisan political offices. Partisan primary elections often determine the winner in one-party-dominated areas, like Collier County.
Remember: The last day to register with a party to vote in its primary is 29 days before Election Day. Make a note of the next “book closing date” so you won’t miss it.
Read more about Collier County primary elections in these Sparker’s Soapbox posts:
- Party Affiliation and Florida as a Closed Primary State
- The Republican Primary: Collier County’s Most Important Election
- Collier County’s 2024 Primary Elections
- Collier County’s 2022 Primary Elections
- Collier County’s 2020 Primary Elections
This post was first published in the Naples Daily News and The News-Press on Feb. 4, 2024, as Florida’s primary election process explained. It is the first article in a “Be a More Informed Voter” series that will appear in the coming months. We appreciate their support of our efforts.