LARGO, Fla. — Inside the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office, ballots upon ballots are being sorted. Ready to be mailed out to registered voters ahead of next month’s Aug. 20 primary.

What You Need To Know

  • Monday marked the deadline for Floridians to register to vote in the Aug. 20 primary election

  • The deadline brought out dozens to get signed up at various tax collector's offices, including first-time voters

  • Those working at registration locations say they have seen a noticeable uptick in the amount of people registering

  • The deadline to register for 2024 General Election is Oct. 7, 2024

“Florida has a registration deadline which is 29 days prior to the election, and we also have closed primaries, with the exceptions of universal primary contests,” says Marcus. “It’s really important to check your voter registration status, you can do that on your supervisor’s website- for Pinellas it’s VotePinellas.gov and just get election ready today.”

And getting election ready is what many across Pinellas were doing. Such as getting registered to vote at one of the county’s tax collector’s offices.

“In all the different places I’ve worked, I’ve never seen the amount of activity and the interest as I have today!” said Maura Sweeney, Pinellas County Election Ambassador. “It’s really been remarkable. It’s very encouraging and inspiring.”

The deadline to register brought out dozens to get signed up, including first-time voters.

“When I saw them here, I was like, ‘Oh- well it would be a good time because I’m sure I’m going to be waiting a little while,’” said Alexa Cooper, who was registering to vote for the first time. “It’s busy.”

And plenty have taken that same opportunity to register.

“Things like that are so exciting for us because our whole incentive at our election’s office is to make sure we’re out there,” says Sweeney. “That the community knows we’re out there and we want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to get registered and also get current as a voter.”

Showing that this upcoming election is sure to have a decent turnout.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years and what we traditionally see is the highest participation rates in general Presidential election years,” said Marcus. “So in November, Pinellas County has always been highly engaged and I do not expect anything different going into 2024.”

Shaping up for what is sure to be a busy November election.

If you are requesting a mail-in ballot, requests need to be made by Aug. 8 in order to receive one for the Aug. 20 primary.

The deadline to register for the 2024 General Election is Oct. 7, 2024.