Voter turnout is key to elections. Florida voters turnout at higher numbers than the national average, and Pinellas voters turnout more frequently than the Florida average. Voter turnout determines who wins elections. About 64% of Pinellas residents are registered to vote.
Florida used to be a purple state, but now, if looking at Republican (GOP) and Democratic (DEM) party registrations, we look pretty red. Pinellas info is from the end of July, and state info is from August 11th. It isn’t possible to compare to national numbers, since a multitude of states don’t collect party affiliation information. The percentage is of registered voters.
Midterm voter turnout is usually significantly lower than presidential election years. Conventional wisdom is that the party in power suffers in the midterm. With the exceptions of the Clinton and GW Bush second terms, the party in power lost seats in Congress in the last 40 midterm elections. All of the Pinellas voting data comes from the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections office.
Let’s dive in, data fans.
First, Pinellas, pat yourself on the back. Pinellas County out votes Florida and the US significantly. And yes, this is due to older voters. Even though our largest residential age group is in their 40s, Pinellas has a larger older (65+ years) population than Florida and the US. In the last couple of elections, older voters in Florida turnout is 67.7%. That is slightly lower than the national average of 70.8%.
And they vote. 34% of the 2024 Pinellas voters were aged 66 or older. In 2022, that was almost 38%. That is compared to being just under 29% of the population. Are they the ones driving our excellent turnout reputation?
How did we do in the August midterm?
Pinellas voter turnout was 30.5%, and the state turnout was 25%. GOP turnout was 35%, DEM turnout was 41%. Independents, NPA (No Party Affiliate), and smaller parties showed up 13% of the time, which isn’t surprising, since they are shut out of most races in Florida’s closed primary system. Closed primaries keep about a third of Florida voters sidelined.
State turnout had about 30% GOP voters, 32% DEM voters, and 10% all others in the August 2026 primary.
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Voter purges though
Florida passed its own version of the SAVE act (which the state has also pledged to enact), which goes into effect after this November’s election. Currently there are several lawsuits against it, with claims that it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. Before this most current law, Florida aggressively purged voters from the rolls in 2023, in accordance with a new state law. If a voter misses two federal elections they are considered inactive.
Here’s Florida’s voter purge recent history:
According to the state’s Division of Elections, active voters are purged because
- Voter was determined to be ineligible (e.g., adjudication of mental incapacity without voting rights restored, felony conviction without voting rights restored, death, not a U.S. citizen, did not list a valid Florida residence, determined to be fictitious person)
- Voter moved out of state and either the voter or the out-of-state election official notifies the State or the Supervisor of Elections
- Voter asked in writing to be removed from the rolls
How to make sure you are okay to vote in November
You can check your voter registration, or register to vote, through the Supervisor of Elections website here if you are in Pinellas. If you are looking for more information about the November election, we got you! Check out our post about it.
