by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
If you don’t know where, when or how to vote, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to find out whether you like it or not.
Funded by a $288,000 grant from the state, the local elections office will put on a full-court press this summer to educate the public on the voting procedures.
“We’ll have a big media kickoff on June 14 and we’ll do everything we can to help people understand the process,” says Robert Phillips, the senior elections officer of the Duval County Supervisor of Elections office. “It’s not just voter registration. It’s finding out who has moved so we can get them in the proper precinct to vote.
“We also need to start talking about how to vote — we have a different system this year.”
All this attention, of course, comes from the problems in the 2000 elections. The world’s focus was on Florida’s vote for president of the United States, but other ballot lines also were affected.
The elections office has produced a variety of printed materials explaining the process. There’s even a refrigerator magnet which gives the election dates (Sept. 10 for the primary, Nov. 5 for the general election) and how to vote. (And, of course, the name of the local supervisor’s name is prominent, because John Stafford will be one of those on the ballot assuming he’s opposed.)
The media kickoff will be done with surrounding counties, who are pooling resources to buy advertising to drive home the message.
The $288,000 is also being used for three extra salaries to do outreach, and Phillips and his new hires are on the speaker’s circuit to explain what’s going to happen.
A few items of interest:
• You’ll get a paper ballot, which requires you to darken a circle next to your candidate’s name. The ballot is then fed into a machine, which counts the votes you’ve made. If you goof (by darkening two circles, for instance,) the machine rejects it. The precinct worker then will “spoil” your ballots and give you another. Goof again? OK. But, three strikes and you’re out.
• If you have moved since the last election and you’ve told the elections office about it (in writing, by state law,) you’ll get a new voter card between now and the election.
• If you show up at the wrong precinct, your wait will be shorter. In the past, the workers had to call the elections office and find out where you were supposed to be. This year, each precinct will have a laptop computer loaded with the database, so the workers will have the information on hand and save a call.
• Each of the 3,000 or so precinct workers are now going through a pre-election education process. They’re required by the state to take six hours of classes, but the local office is requiring eight hours.
• Not enough of the 3,000 are “computer literate,” and the elections office is looking for help. They need people who can handle a laptop and are willing to sit in a precinct voting room from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pay: $150.