Votes cast for Jeb Bush will still be counted in March 15 primary

If you already cast your ballot for Jeb Bush, there’s no going back now.

Thousands of ballots have already been returned to elections officials across Florida in advance of the March 15 presidential preference primary. Once those ballots have been cast, voters can’t change their mind because their candidate dropped out.

On Saturday, Bush said he was suspending his campaign. The decision came after poor showings in early voting states. Bush came in fourth in the Palmetto State’s GOP primary on Saturday with about 8 percent support.

“I’m proud of the campaign that we have run to unify the country. And to advocate for conservative solutions that would give more Americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their God-given potential,” he said in his speech Saturday. “But the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken. I respect their decision.”

Bush’s name will remain on the Florida ballot, said Melissa Blazier, the chief deputy supervisor of elections for the Collier County Supervisor of Elections. And so will the names of other Republicans who have suspended their 2016 campaigns.

Florida Ballot Update: Despite “suspending” his campaign, @JebBush will remain on the Florida ballot. #VoteSeminole

— VoteSeminole (@VoteSeminole) February 21, 2016

Blazier said Bush and other candidates will still be considered “an active voting position” and votes for the former Florida governor will be counted. But that doesn’t mean he has a chance at winning the state’s winner-take-all primary.

Brian Corley, the president of the Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections and Pasco County’s election chief, said votes cast for a candidate who has suspended his or her campaign won’t be counted when determining the winner of Florida’s 99 delegates.

Even if candidates formally withdraw from the race it would be too late to remove their name from the ballot.

The ballot was set in December. Blazier said if a candidate formally withdraws from the race before March 15, elections officials will post notices in voting booths to inform voters that a vote for a specific candidate won’t count.

In Collier County, more than 11,270 votes have already been cast; while more than 36,800 votes have already been cast in Lee County. More than 11,100 ballots have already been cast in Pasco County; and elections officials in Pinellas County report more than 46,400 voters have already voted.

Blazier said she expects her office — and other elections offices across the state — will get calls from voters asking if they can get a re-do on their vote.

“Unfortunately, it happens every time,” she said. “We’ll have a lot of people wait until Election Day to vote because of these scenarios.”