BlogWood: MT Archives

Vote early

Early voting starts today.

In Hillsborough County, Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson has added several libraries to the list of polling sites for early voting that starts today.

In Pasco County, Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning has hired an additional 25 poll workers to run the early voting sites so his staff can continue preparing for Nov. 2.

And in Pinellas, Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark expects to at least match the 50,000 voters who cast ballots early in the 2002 gubernatorial election.

Today kicks off the state's first experience with unrestricted early voting in a presidential election. Tens of thousands of voters are expected to cast ballots at elections offices, libraries and other sites in the next two weeks.

The option has been available for years under Florida law but in a very limited way - mainly for voters who had a legitimate reason they could not go to the polls on Election Day. The Legislature loosened the restrictions in 2001.

"We've found it to be very popular," Johnson said. He expects more than 36,000 Hillsborough residents to vote in the next two weeks, triple the number who voted early in this year's primary.

Registered voters must bring a photo and signature ID - usually a driver's license - to any of the sites during the hours elections officials have set for early voting. All counties must offer at least two weekend days for early voting.

Note to SP Times:

NO, voters do NOT need a photo ID - the SP Times should take 30 seconds to fact check against their own archives.

The sign that Pasco election officials stick in grass outside polling places reads, "Photo and Signature Identification Required."

It might seem straightforward - state law says voters are required to show their ID before casting their ballot. But some activists say such language is a deceptive shorthand for the law and could prevent people from voting.

"Voters were turned away because of signs like this in 2000," said Courtenay C. Strickland, director of the voting rights project at the ACLU of Florida. "Those are misleading and can result in disenfranchisement."

The group recently wrote the state's elections supervisors, asking them to display signs - and arm poll workers - with information that more accurately reflects state voter-identification laws. While the statutes require photo and signature identification, generally they also allow people without such ID to vote after signing an affidavit.
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"The misinterpretation of "ID Required' signs by both poll workers and voters alike, who took such polling place signs to be complete statements of Florida law rather than the misstatements that they are, led to lost votes in the November 2000 election and more recently in 2003,"......