by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Election day isn’t election day any more. It’s election weeks and Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland believes having the opportunity to vote early can increase the number of people who cast ballots by making the process more convenient.
“People have busy schedules. If you wait until election day to cast your ballot, something might come up that could take priority over voting,” said Holland. “With early voting, you can take care of it and get it out of the way. You can vote at your convenience seven days a week for two weeks, so you can choose the time that’s best for you and your schedule.”
Early voting locations will open for the Nov. 7 general election on Oct. 23 at 14 of the 19 public libraries in the county and the Downtown Supervisor of Elections office on Monroe Street. The more than half-million registered voters in Duval County may cast their ballots Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and on the weekends from 1-4 p.m.
Holland said state law allows early voting locations to be open for eight hours a day during the week and for a total of eight hours on weekends.
“We made the choice to allow people to vote after work rather than before work during the week and we made the decision to offer early voting on both Saturday and Sunday,” said Holland. “In surrounding counties, early voting sites are open eight hours on Saturday and are closed on Sunday. But we feel that a lot of people in Duval County might want to vote on their way home after church.”
The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 changed several things in the process, including allowing early voting, said Holland.
“It addressed a lot of issues like accessibility for disabled voters and making sure that ballots are accurate after the problems we saw in the 2000 election,” he said. “The law requires every county in the country to have a minimum of one early voting site. The number of sites in each county is dictated by what sites are available. Florida law states that early voting is only allowed at public libraries, city halls and election offices that have been in operation with full election services for at least one year.”
He added that Duval County’s large number of public libraries makes it easy for people to vote early.
“We have a wonderful library system. Some counties have one library, one city hall and one elections office. In a really small county, all three could be at the same location,” said Holland.
The purpose of allowing registered voters to cast their ballots early is to reduce reasons not to vote and encourage more people to make their voices heard when it comes to government.
Holland said there are many different approaches to motivate voters to participate in the election process.
“Some counties close the schools on election day. In some states, election day is a holiday. In Arizona, a man put the name of every person who voted into a lottery for a million dollars. They get a 90-percent voter turnout in Australia because you have to pay a fine if you don’t vote,” said Holland.
With two weeks of early voting at 15 locations and absentee ballots for those who know they will be out of town or are home-bound, Holland said the goal is to make it easy for all registered voters to cast their ballot on or before election day.
“I’d have to say that accessibility is at its greatest point right now,” said Holland.