Escambia County has reduced its early voting locations from 10 to seven for the upcoming special primary election for Florida’s 1st Congressional District following Rep. Matt Gaetz’s resignation. Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender announced early voting would not be available at Century, the University of West Florida (UWF), or Brownsville during the primary, though these locations will be reinstated for the special election.
WHY? The decision was based on low turnout figures from March’s presidential preference primary, in which the three sites collectively drew only 318 early voters at a cost of about $17,000. The March 2024 data showed Century had 58 early voters, Brownsville had 93, and UWF had 167 out of a total of 5,875 early votes cast across the county.
DETAILS: Voters who previously used these three locations for early voting in March will receive notification letters from the Supervisor of Elections office. The January 28 primary will be limited to Republican voters only. The race features 10 Republican candidates, one Democrat, one candidate without party affiliation, and four write-in candidates. Since there is only one Democratic candidate with no opposition, Democratic voters will not participate in this primary.
Early voting will be January 18-25 at these Escambia County locations:
- Escambia County Extension Services, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Molino Community Center, 6450 Highway 95A, Molino
- Bellview Library, 6425 Mobile Highway
- Asbury Place, 750 College Blvd
- Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office, 213 Palafox Place, Second Floor
- Main Library, 239 Spring Street
- Southwest Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
All vote-by-mail requests will expire at the end of the year. To vote by mail again, a new request must be submitted.
