Florida election: What to know about low voter turnout in Tuesday's presidential primary

Tuesday's presidential preference primary was marked by historically low voter turnout across Florida, according to the Department of State data.

Voters turned out Tuesday in the lowest numbers going back two decades, with only 20% of registered voters turning in ballots as former President Donald Trump secured the Republican primary win in Florida for his third presidential campaign.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who withdrew from the GOP presidential primary in January, surprised some with a third-place finish in his own state, trailing former candidate Nikki Haley by a wide margin.

Trump took the win in Florida overwhelmingly despite standing accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money, conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents and facing over half a billion in pending fines for fraud and defamation.

How low was Florida turnout compared to the past?

Across the state, only around 20% of Floridians showed up to vote on Tuesday, according to Department of State data.

Turnout that low was only accomplished as recently as 2004 when incumbent Republican George Bush ended up facing Democratic challenger John Kerry. Turnout percentages have varied since then but have not dipped below 30%.

Voter turnout data for presidential primaries since 2004 shows that 2020, when Biden and Trump also faced each other, was the only year with turnout below 40% since 2004.

Florida voter turnout in presidential primaries:

• 2004 - 20%

• 2008 - 42%

• 2012 - 41%

• 2016 - 46%

• 2020 - 30%

• 2024 - 20%

Florida Election Watch - County Reporting Status

Democrats cancel their own primary in Florida

Only registered Republicans participated in Tuesday's party as the state's Democratic party canceled its primary back in November, awarding the state's delegates to incumbent President Joe Biden.

Some within the party were not happy with that decision. In a joint press conference in December, Democratic primary challengers Democratic presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Cenk Uygur blasted the party's decision to cancel its Florida primary, according to reporting from The Hill. Florida DNC member Thomas Kennedy wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at the time of the party's decision last year that canceling the primary was "an awful decision that disenfranchises people and depresses turnout."

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Trump, Biden are historically unpopular candidates

Over one in four Americans have unfavorable views of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, according to Pew research polling, indicating there may be less overall enthusiasm for voters to show up at the polls.

Other polling, like that conducted by AP-NORC, has shown that a majority of Americans would be dissatisfied with either candidate as their only choice on the ballot, showing that 68 % of adults are pessimistic about the state of American politics.

That polling shows that 58% would be dissatisfied with a Donald Trump nomination and 56% would be dissatisfied with Joe Biden winning the Democratic primary.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Record low Florida voter turnout for president nominees Trump, Biden