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Voter turnout light for Primary Elections
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006 |
PINELLAS COUNTY - As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, about 11 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots in the after Labor Day Primary Elections.
According to Nancy Whitlock, communications director for the Supervisor of Elections Office, sixteen sample precincts had called in with reports of about 1,700 to 2,300 voters. She said election officials were hoping that more people would turn out during the last three hours.
"We were hoping for at least 20 percent," she said.
Whitlock said people had commented on having an election immediately following a holiday and that some were talking about trying to get that changed.
"That would be fine with us," Whitlock said. "It's hard getting everything set up on a holiday."
She said no problems had been reported during the day. She said some people had called in upset that they couldn't vote for certain candidates. She said they didn't understand they could only vote for candidates in the district where they lived.
Some voters also were not aware that Florida had closed primary elections. In a closed primary, voters may only vote in a primary if they are registered members of that party.
"Some were upset they couldn't vote for any candidate they wanted to vote for," Whitlock said. "But, a closed primary gives the parties a chance to choose their own candidate to go on to run in the General Election."
Closed primaries are very common, she said.
The polls closed at 7 p.m. and election workers began processing the ballots, under the watchful eye of the Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay, which according to its Web site "is a non-partisan, grassroots citizens' group dedicated to election reform."
Whitlock said the group had been observing closing procedures during early voting and would be observing closing procedures on Tuesday night.
"We welcome the scrutiny," Whitlock said. "We have nothing to hide."
The group requested an audit of the Pinellas County March 7, 2006 election because of several concerns, including the reliability of results from voting machines. An audit by the Florida State Division of Elections found nothing wrong with the results from the March 7 election.
Waiting for results
The outcome of several primary races will determine the candidates voters will decide between in the General Election on Nov. 7. Other races, such as the universal election for Pinellas County Commissioner, the School Board and judicial races will be determined tonight, unless no candidates receives a clear majority.
If no candidate receives a majority, a runoff election will take place Nov. 7 between the two with the most votes.
Asked what would happen if no candidates running in the primary to decide who would go on to the general election received a clear majority, Whitlock said the two with the most votes would draw.
She said there were no clear guidelines on how the draw would be done.
"They could decide to roll dice, flip a coin, draw straws or do rock, papers, scissors as long as they both agreed," she said.
Tampa Bay Newspaper's Online Edition will be posting election results as they become available from the Supervisor of Elections Web site.
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Article published on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006
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