PRIMARY

South Florida's congressional primary had one clear winner on election night, and that was the winner of the Republican primary.

After overseas and military votes were counted, there was little change in results, which means that Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick could be the Democratic contender for the 20th Florida Congressional District in January.

Many people in Florida opted in for early voting, possibly to skip the long lines on primary day or for a whole slew of other reasons. But what are you supposed to do if you voted early for a candidate who has already dropped out -- before Florida’s primary on March 17? And anyone who votes for that person will have his or her vote count -- as in, a vote for that candidate. Many states follow this same rule, but there are a few places that will let you have a re-do if your candidate dropped out before the primary. As you can see from this primary alone, many candidates drop out right before or directly after the juggernaut primary day.

Click or tap here for deadlines in each state to register for the primary election and the general election in November. This is where you really want to start familiarizing yourself with your state’s Secretary of State or Department of State website. People can be eligible to vote by mail if they are:Going to be away from their county on Election Day and during early voting. Absentee/mail-in ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Ballots from voters overseas must be received by the fifth day after Election Day, while ballots from members of the armed forced must be received by the sixth day after Election Day.

Michael Putney came to Local 10 in 1989 to become senior political reporter and host of "This Week In South Florida with Michael Putney." He is Local 10's senior political reporter.