Miami Getting Election Ready Ahead Of Florida Primary

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- With less than a month away from the Florida primary, the Miami-Dade Elections Department is testing their voting equipment to ensure a smooth and accurate count.

On Thursday, they'll be conducting comprehensive examinations of the equipment, that include logic and accuracy tests, for the upcoming March 15th Presidential Preference Primary Election.

"This is just one of many procedures that the Department performs during the preparation of an election to ensure that voting equipment is ready for use at Early Voting and Election Day voting locations," said Supervisor of Elections Christina White.

There is a lot of interest in the election judging from the numbers Miami-Dade now has 1.3 million registered voters.

"The election department has seen a spike in registrations and party changes. We expect voter turnout to be between 35 and 40 percent" said White.

The county has sent 162,763 absentee ballots and already 37,173 have been returned.

In Broward, there's also been a surge. There are 1.1 million registered voters. A whopping 100,000 absentee ballots have been mailed and 13,200 returned, so far.

Voters are paying attention and some see this as a good thing.

"Americans have been apathetic for so long, so maybe they will start paying attention to what the candidates have to say," commented Tchaka Owen, who follows the political process.

Each step of the voting and tabulation process will be tested at the Elections Department Headquarters at 2700 N.W. 87th Avenue in Miami.

Early voting for Miami-Dade County residents begins Monday, Feb. 29 and ends Sunday, Mar. 13.

Click here for early voting locations in Miami-Dade.