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Early voting is underway, and there are half a million more voters in Florida this year than were registered for the 2008 primaries. As Whitney Ray tells us, there’s a slight surge in Republican voters, growth in the Democratic party is slowing and people registering with no party affiliation is up nine percent.

Monday morning the polls opened for the primaries, and Carolyn Holifield didn’t waste any time casting her ballot.

“I think it’s important to give people as many options as possible. A lot of people work. In the past I’ve had to vote on Saturday,” said Carolyn.

This year there are more people than ever before registered to cast a ballot in Florida. The latest statistics show more than 11 million registered voters in Florida. But the count leaves out more than a million inactive voters.

Without the inactive voters, Republicans have about four million registered voters and Democrats have 4.6 million. But growth in the Democratic Party has slowed since the 2008 election, when the Obama Campaign spent millions in Florida. It doesn’t seem to bother Gubernatorial Candidate Alex Sink.

“I’m talking to all Floridians; I’m talking to Democrats, Republicans, and independents because I want all Floridians to hear my message,” said Sink.

Early voting has traditionally favored Democrats, with more Republicans choosing to cast ballots on Election Day.

In Leon County a group of Democrats walked to the Courthouse to choose their candidates.

“I just wanted to make sure I got my vote in, sometimes there’s lines, depending on the schedule on the actual day of voting,” said Adam.

Absent from the polls were Florida’s two million voters with no party affiliation. Their numbers are growing, but in Florida only Democrats and Republicans are allowed to vote in the primaries.

While the primaries are for members of the two major parties, the rest of Florida’s registered voters can still cast ballots for city and county candidates. Early voting ends August 21st.