Early voting next week: Hillsborough County begins presidential primary prep

The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections is beginning to set up early voting locations Thursday for the Florida Presidential Preference Primary next month.

Supervisor Craig Latimer will be on hand Thursday morning at 11:45 a.m. at the C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library located at 2607 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Tampa, one of 23 early voting sites throughout the county.

Early voting begins Monday, March 2 and runs through March 15. Select polling places are open seven days a week during that time from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Voters can cast an early ballot ahead of the March 17 primary at any of the locations regardless of their assigned polling places.

On Election Day, voters must cast a ballot at their assigned precinct.

This year’s early voting includes six new locations.

Those are:

— Apollo Beach Community Center; 664 Golf and Sea Blvd in Apollo Beach

— Austin Davis Public Library; 17808 Wayne Rd. in Odessa

— Northwest Elections Office; 4575 Gunn Hwy. in Tampa

— Providence West Community Center; 5417 Providence Rd. in Riverview

— Southeast Elections Office; 10020 S. U.S. Highway 301 in Riverview

— USF TECO Hall (David C. Anchin Center); 4202 W. Union St. in Tampa

Voters can also drop off mail ballots at any of the early voting sites.

To vote early or on Election Day, voters must bring at least one valid form of identification. Valid IDs include a Florida driver license or state-issued identification card or a U.S. passport. Other forms of identification include a debit or credit card, military ID, Student ID, retirement center ID, neighborhood association ID, public assistance ID, veteran health ID issued by the VA, concealed weapon license or government employee ID.

Identification must include the voter’s signature to be considered. If it does not, voters will be asked to provide another form of ID that contains a signature.

Other early voting locations include:

— Bloomingdale Regional Public Library; 1906 Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico

— Bruton Memorial Library; 302 W. McLendon St. in Plant City

— Fred B. Karl County Center; 601 E. Kennedy. Blvd. in downtown Tampa

— Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library; 3910 S. Manhattan Ave. in Tampa

— Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library; 2902 W. Bearss Ave. in Tampa

— Maureen B. Gauzza Public Library; 11211 Countryway Blvd. in Tampa

— New Tampa Regional Library; 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. in Tampa

— North Tampa Branch Library; 8916 North Blvd. in Tampa

— Northdale Recreation Center; 15550 Spring Pine Dr. in Tampa

— Port Tampa Community Center; 4702 W. McCoy St. in Tampa

— Riverview Branch Library; 10509 Riverview Dr. in Riverview

— Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center; 2514 Falkenburg Rd. in Tampa

— Temple Terrace Public Library; 202 Bullard Pkw. in Temple Terrace

— Town ’N Country Regional Public Library; 7606 Paula Dr. in Temple Terrace

— West Tampa Branch Library; 2312 W. Union St. in Tampa

A total of 16 candidates will appear on the Democratic ticket including several candidates who have dropped out of the race since ballots were printed.

Those candidates include:

— Michael Bennet (dropped out)

— Joe Biden

— Michael Bloomberg

— Cory Booker (dropped out)

— Pete Buttigieg

— Julian Castro (dropped out)

— John Delaney (dropped out)

— Tulsi Gabbard

— Amy Klobuchar

— Deval Patrick (dropped out)

— Berne Sanders

— Joe Sestak (dropped out)

— Tom Steyer

— Elizabeth Warren

— Marianne Williamson (dropped out)

— Andrew Yang (dropped out)

Three candidates will appear on the Republican ticket alongside President Donald Trump including Rocky De La Fuente, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld.