- April 22, 2024
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Husband and wife Nicholas Del Drago and Linda Waczkowski voted in Florida’s 2020 Presidential Preference Primary Election. Photo by Ray Boone
Voters walk into and out of the precinct at the Flagler County Public Library. Photo by Ray Boone
Palm Coast resident Margaret Knaggs cast her vote in Florida’s 2020 Presidential Preference Primary Election. Photo by Ray Boone
Voters walk into and out of the precinct at the Flagler County Public Library. Photo by Ray Boone
Even with the threat of COVID-19 (also known as the coronavirus) looming, many Flagler County residents are still exercising their right to vote by participating in Florida’s 2020 Presidential Preference Primary Election.
Voting is taking place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, at several precinct locations throughout the county, including at the Flagler County Public Library, located at 2500 Palm Coast Parkway N.W.
Sandy Paley, 65, arrived at the library with her young granddaughter in tow. Paley, a lifelong democrat, said she voted for former vice president and current Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
“Voting means a lot to me because I want Trump out of office,” said Paley, who has lived in Palm Coast for the past 20 years. “It’s my right to pick and choose.”
Terry Larkin, 69, has lived in Palm Coast since 1994. He showed up at the library to vote for current president Donald Trump.
“It’s about getting the right person in office,” said Larkin, a lifelong Republican. “The guy who’s getting the job done right now.”
With Flagler County's precincts now closed and the unofficial results for the 2020 Florida Presidential Preference Primary Election in, the county saw a decrease in voter turnout from 2016 to 2020 — but there was an increase in those who opted to vote by mail.
There are currently 66,035 registered voters in Flagler County and 21,986 ballots were cast. There was a 49.12% turnout in 2016. This year, the turnout was 33.29%. In addition, there were 6,345 votes by mail in 2016 and 9,505 votes by mail this year (with ballots still waiting to be counted).
Democratic candidate Joe Biden took 68.7% of the votes, with challenger Bernie Sanders receiving 17.58%. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump received 95.62% of the vote.
The unofficial results can be viewed at https://enr.electionsfl.org/FLA/2579/Summary/. Official results won’t be in for about 10 days.
“The election itself went very smoothly," Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart said. "We had a perfectly good election ruined on election day by the coronavirus. It’s been a busy day, but we had a very smooth election. Voters were pleasant, and all of our poll workers came back with a smile. That’s all you can ask for.”
