STATEWIDE — Florida is a closed primary, which means you can only vote for candidates from the party you’re registered with.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t change your registration for the primary and then change it again for the general election.

“We’ll see people come in who might not be party affiliated and they’ll switch to party affiliation just for the primary and then they’ll go back to no party affiliation. It’s people’s personal preference what they want to do,” Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer explained.

Latimer explained the movements and jolts his office is seeing, leading up to the voter registration deadline on Saturday, July 23.

The biggest primary race in the state is on the Democratic side of the gubernatorial ticket: Charlie Crist vs. Nikki Fried.

J. Edwin Benton, a professor of political science at the University of South Florida, says tracking voter registration doesn’t tell you much about a race until you get to the general election. And right now, he says that’s what the two Democratic candidates should be thinking about.

“They’re going to have to shift their positions, get away from Joe Biden and chart their own path and make it Florida specific,” he advises. “…You can’t do anything for the economy and you don’t want to badmouth the president, but you don’t pat him on the back. And you don’t insist that you’re a Democrat, and definitely not a Democrat. by Joe Biden.

Some election office supervisors are extending hours on Monday to accommodate those last-minute registrations and party affiliation changes.

For more information, consult the Supervisor of Elections in the county where you live.