LABELLE -- The 2022 elections are coming up, starting with the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

In Hendry County, there are two county board district races, three school board district races and two Hendry Hospital board races.

District 2 in Hendry County has two contenders for county commission as current commissioner, Darrell Harris, did not seek re-election. Emory “Rowdy” Howard and Matt Rentz, both Republicans, from LaBelle are vying for Harris' seat.

In District 4, Republican incumbent Ramon Iglesias of Clewiston is running uncontested.

Hendry County School Board Districts 3, 4 and 5 have races, with incumbents Amanda Nelson, Stephanie Busin and Jon Basquin running respectively.

Bianca Burke-Ross of LaBelle is running against Nelson, Richard West of LaBelle and Joe Whitehead of Clewiston are running against Busin and Rich Murphy of Clewiston is running against Basquin.

Paul Jackson Meador, Jr., of LaBelle is running uncontested for the Hendry Hospital Board District 2 and Ramon Leonard Carroll, Jr. of Clewiston is running against incumbent Elaine Wood, also of Clewiston, for District 4.

For information about the candidates, visit the Hendry County Supervisor of Elections website at https://www.hendryelections.org/m/Candidate-Information.

The registration deadline for voting in the primary election is July 25, with early voting starting August 8 and going through the 20^th.

Voting registration for the November 8 general election is October 11, with early voting starting Oct. 24 and ending Nov. 5.

You can register to vote at the Supervisor of Elections office at 25 E. Hickpochee Ave. in LaBelle or 1100 S. Olympia Street, Ste. 504, in Clewiston.

To vote by mail visit the Election Supervisor’s website here: https://www.hendryelections.org/Vote-By-Mail.

Polling locations can be found here: https://www.hendryelections.org/m/Polling-Place-Information Please note that District 4 has a new polling location at the Big Cypress Gymnasium located at 31201 Josie Billie Highway.

You can find your precinct here: https://www.hendryelections.org/Polling-Place-Information/Precinct-Finder.

Primary elections are held on the Tuesday 11 weeks before the General Election to select party nominees. Because Florida is a closed primary state, voters may only vote for candidates in their party of registration, so make sure to indicate that on your voter registration. If a party is not selected, you vote will be limited to judges and issues in the primaries. The exception is when there is a Universal Primary Contest (UPC) which means all candidates have the same party affiliation in a primary election and the winner won’t have opposition in the general election. All qualified electors may vote on a UPC no matter what their party affiliation.

The non-partisan judicial and school board elections are held on the same day as the primary election. If there are three or more candidates, and there none receive a majority vote of 50% plus 1, the two with the highest number of votes go to the general election.

Municipal elections are held in separate cities and towns within the county. Check with your municipal clerk for the date of your municipal election. You must live inside the boundaries of a municipality to vote in that municipality’s election.

The general election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years for national, state and county offices, constitutional amendments and local referendums. Regardless of one’s party affiliation, voters can vote for any candidate on the ballot of any party in a general election.

You can find detailed information on registering to vote, voters rights and responsibilities and what acceptable voter identification is required at the Hendry County Supervisor of Election website at: https://www.hendryelections.org/Voter-Information