Early voting for the Senate District 1 special election is under way but much like it was for the mayoral election, voter turnout isn’t expected to be strong, said Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland.
“I’d say between 14-17 percent,” Holland said Friday after a meeting with the Civic Round Table of Jacksonville.
The election was triggered after State Sen. Tony Hill resigned to accept a position as Mayor Alvin Brown’s congressional affairs director.
Holland told the group of civic leaders he tried to convince Hill to stay in the position to save taxpayers’ money because the election has the potential to cost $1 million for the five-county area.
Candidates running for the District 1 seat in the Sept. 20 primary are Ramon Day, Terry Fields, Audrey Gibson and Leandrew Mills III.
The special general election will be held Oct. 18 between the winner of the primary and write-in candidate Andrea Felicia Austin.
Holland said if the write-in candidate decides to drop from the field, it would eliminate the need for a general election, leaving the primary winner with the seat and save about $500,000.
Looking ahead, Holland said the 2012 presidential election, or “Super Bowl of election years,” would likely draw more voters to the booths than did local elections.
“Turnout will be big, and as we are Florida, a lot of eyes will be on us,” he said.
The big question, he said, is when the Florida presidential primary will take place. He said it has to move for the Republican presidential candidates to be able to attend the national convention this year, which will be in Tampa.
Iowa and New Hampshire, which are held first, will take place in early February. Holland said he expects the Florida primary to take place in early March.
He said voters can expect some changes because of the Florida Legislature.
Early voting has been reduced from 14 days to eight days, with the original intent to curb costs. Holland said the measure has reduced days but increased overtime pay. Instead of 12-hour days, he expects nine-hour weekdays and six hours on the weekend with voting ending the Saturday before Election Day instead of the usual Sunday.
Another potential costly item still being worked out, he said, has been amendments on the ballot. In the past, if the judiciary deemed amendment language confusing, it was required that it be removed. In an effort to keep it on the ballot, legislators decided that an amendment in its entirety can be placed on a ballot.
In effect, Holland said that could mean amendments eight to 10 pages long and a book-like size ballot.
“And you know all voters will take the time to read every amendment,” Holland quipped.
“There’s got to be another way.”
356-2466