Duval County voters can expect changes at the booth during Florida presidential primary

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Right now, training and preparation for the Florida presidential primary is underway in Duval County.

It’s 63 days from now.

Only Republicans will be able to vote, but for many in Duval County, the way you vote and where you vote is changing.

MORE: Voting precinct locations to change for more than 245K Duval County voters as election season approaches

Some precincts for some Duval County voters have now shifted and there are 26 fewer precincts than before, but there will be more early voting sites, 24.

Training for poll workers to work those polls is now underway. They are learning the rules and what’s all involved in this presidential primary.

Theresa Carter is one of those poll workers.

“A very important job. And they trained us well. And then make sure we know what we know,” Carter said. “I didn’t see any problems. I mean, if everyone just comes in and does what they’re supposed to, versus it should all run smoothly.”

And that’s what Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland is hoping for.

“It will be just like a regular election, as far as vote by mail, will have early voting and Election Day. Obviously, all three forms of voting will still be out there for this election,” Holland said. “There’s definitely a lot of talk and legislation being proposed in Tallahassee. But one thing I’m 100% sure is, none of it will impact the March election.”

MORE: Look closely: New voter ID cards being sent out could have you casting your ballot in a new location

One of the biggest changes with this presidential primary is early voting.

Those who are used to doing that would get a paper ballot and would mark it and put that into the machine. That’s not going to be the case with early voting this year.

The only thing voters are going to be using are express vote machines. That’s where you go up and you vote on the machine itself. So people are going to learn a different way to vote.

But if you vote on Primary Day, March 19, it will be the same procedure except for many in Duval County it might be at a new location.

Only Registered Republicans can vote in this primary, but eligible voters can register or change political parties to cast a ballot in the primary and change back after the primary is over, if they want to.