ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Some of the top races in St. Johns County could be decided in the August primary election, but many of those races will be decided only by Republican voters.
The St. Johns County commission races have become hotly contested, but not all county voters will be able to weigh in.
All of the county commission candidates in the August primary are running as Republicans, and only registered Republican voters can cast ballots in those races.
That’s because Florida is a closed primary state, which means people can only vote for candidates in their own party during a primary.
St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes said: "The party of the voter dictates the ballot that they receive in a primary election. For example, if you’re a registered Republican, you’re going to receive a Republican ballot."
She explained that registered Democrat voters will have no county commissioner candidates on their primary ballots.
That’s the case for St. Johns County commission races District 1, District 3 and District 5 which are all of the commission seats up for election this year.
Two of those races have write-in candidates, which essentially closes those races in the primary so no registered Democrats can vote for those races. This means those county commission races could be decided in the primary.
"That’s a very good possibility," Oakes said, "because the write-in candidates are all they (the primary winners) will face in the general."
Oakes said It’s the same case for the St. Johns County sheriff’s race. Only Republicans are running, and there is a write-in candidate that closes the election to other voters, so only Republicans can vote.
While St. Johns County has more registered Republican voters than Democrat voters, there are a few races that will be on the Democrat ballot in the primary. They include the St. Johns County Clerk of Court, a judge and a school board member for some voters.