Escambia and Santa Rosa elections 2020: Here's what you need to know about voting Aug. 18

All eyes may be on the hotly contested 2020 presidential election in November, but a slew of local offices in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are up for grabs in Tuesday's primary election.

And the results of the local elections will have consequential impacts on everything from property taxes and millage rates to how schools are run and public records are handled. 

A total of 47 names will appear on ballots for public office Tuesday, and you can read directly from the candidates on the PNJ's ultimate voter guide at pnj.com. 

In Escambia County, more than 27,000 ballots have already been cast, according to the supervisor of elections website. That includes 20,902 vote-by-mail ballots and almost 7,000 in-person ballots at early voting locations. 

In Santa Rosa County, 9,426 vote-by-mail ballots have been cast, along with 5,790 ballots at in-person early voting locations, for a total of 27,884 ballots. 

Florida is a closed partisan primary state, which means voters are only eligible to vote in primary contests for the party with which they are registered, unless it is a universal primary or nonpartisan contest. 

Here's what you need to know to vote in both counties: 

Escambia County 

You can input your information to see what your ballot will look like depending on your precinct and where you can vote Tuesday on the supervisor of election's website at escambiavotes.gov. 

The following are early voting locations. The last day for early voting is Saturday. 

•  Supervisor of Elections Office, 213 Palafox Place, second floor, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•  Main Library, 239 Spring St., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Molino Community Center, 6450-A Highway 95A, Molino, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Genealogy Branch Library,  5740 N. Ninth Ave., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds, 6655 Mobile Highway, Building 7, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  Brownsville Community Center, 3200 W. DeSoto St., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•  University of West Florida Conference Center,  11000 University Parkway, Building 22, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Santa Rosa County

Below is a sample ballot, which will vary depending on whether or not you are a registered Republican, Democrat or Independent. 

The last day for early voting in Santa Rosa County is Saturday. The early voting locations are: 

• Supervisor of Elections, 6495 Caroline St., Milton 
• Pace Community Center, 5976 Chumuckla Highway, Pace 
• South Santa Rosa Service Center, 5841 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze
• Tiger Point Community Center, 1370 Tiger Park, Gulf Breeze 

Election day voting locations can be found on the supervisor of election's website at votesantarosa.com.

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.