While early and absentee voting has been on the rise for years, election supervisors in Florida have seen a surge in requests for mail-in ballots this year, something officials believe could translates into a higher voter turnout for the Aug. 26 primary. 

Kathy Dent, Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections, said her office has seen a 75-percent increase in the number of absentee ballots mailed out for the gubernatorial primary this year compared to the primary in 2010—a jump from 21,465 ballots mailed out four years ago to more than 38,000 ballots sent out so far this year—and there are still more requests for ballots coming to the office every day. The total also smokes the number of absentee ballots mailed by the office in 2012, when 32,555 were sent out.

Dent said the practice of absentee ballots only becomes more popular each election cycle. "As more people vote that way, they decide they like it," she said. "The like the convenience. You are not going anywhere that you have to park."

A similar phenomenon is occurring in Manatee County as well, where the Supervisor of Elections' office has shipped out 38,000 ballots, compared to 27,000 ballots sent out for the primary in 2012. Scott Farrington, Manatee County assistant supervisor of elections, also said convenience was a big factor in the shift. He also noted that a change in Florida law allows people to make a standing request for absentee ballots for elections over the course of two years, rather than having to ask for a ballot every contest.  "That will bump up the number of people getting ballots," he said.

Whether it leads to more people getting ballots they don't bother sending back remains to be seen, Farrington said. But he figures in the end, the increase in shipped ballots will translate to a higher turnout in the end. Hypothetically, he said if the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections office sends out 40,000 ballots and just 20,000 ballots are returned, that represents 10 percent of the voters in the entire county. Primaries in Florida typically see a turnout of only 20-25 percent, and if 10 percent vote just by absentee, that would have a large effect on the final tally. 

Dent notes a few other factors driving up absentee interest. One is that both the Democratic and Republican parties have embraced major absentee ballot drives; returned absentee votes can be tracked daily so getting supporters to vote early means savings in mailers and other campaign costs. But another major factor is supervisors themselves encourage as much early voting as possible. "It helps cut down the lines on Election Day," she said. "It takes the pressures off… We don't want to be a Miami here in Sarasota."