by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The 2004 presidential election is still over a year away, but officials from around the state say the preparation required for two primaries and one general election in just under a nine-week span could prove too stressful for organizers and even more costly for taxpayers.
Following a five-day conference in Sarasota last month, the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections — the group is responsible for overseeing the election process statewide — is asking for the temporary repeal of one of the primaries. It’s up for a vote at this week’s special session in Tallahassee, though the group already has the support of State Senate president Jim King and Speaker of the House Johnnie Byrd. The latter reportedly received a standing ovation after making the announcement.
“It was definitely a hot topic of discussion,” said Duval County Supervisor of Elections John Stafford. “It was first repealed in 2002 and it really freed us all up quite a bit. It hasn’t been permanently repealed because I don’t think they are ready to make that kind of commitment yet, but we hope it happens eventually. We do fully expect another temporary repeal this time.”
Admitting one less election makes his job easier, Stafford said the monetary savings in eliminating the second primary simply make sense.
“It can cost as much as $1 million to have an election in Duval County,” he said. “About $400,000 goes toward poll worker payroll alone. Then you have to look at things like printing costs for the ballots and postage for the roughly 40,000 absentee ballots. The turnaround is much too quick and it’s definitely costly.”
Stafford added the overkill affect of the second primary consistently draws a lower voter turnout than the first and third elections; another bargaining chip for the FSASE.
“You wind up spending the same amount of money and devoting the same amount of time for less,” he said. “Most of the people who are opposed to eliminating to the second primary were elected because of it. If I had been voted in that way, I might feel differently than I do now, but it’s the right thing to do. I’d like to think that voter turnout is driven by the candidates anyway.”
“I think that it’s important for people to understand the supervisor’s are coming from a place of genuine concern,” said Erin Moody, director of communication for the Supervisor of Elections Office. “The evolution of modern voting technology has changed things. Now, it just takes more time to prepare for an election. And as is true with most situations, when you’re not properly prepared, the potential for things to go wrong increases.”