JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Even with the coronavirus pandemic, voters on the First Coast were determined to cast their ballots, including Travis Akers.
Tuesday's Primary started off disappointing, Akers said. When he showed up to his precinct, the polls were nowhere to be found, he said.
"I received a new voter registration card in June with an updated precinct," he said.
He said he verified the change at the Supervisor of Elections website, but on election day his voting precinct had changed.
Akers said he drove up to the Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church it was closed.
"I never received notification in the mail from Mike Hogan's office informing me of the precinct change," said Akers. "And neither did the two other voters who were there at the same time."
What happened? Is this issue isolated to this one precinct?
"I don't believe that this was malicious, I believe this was an administrative failure," said Akers.
In this politically charged election cycle, the integrity of the system is under a microscope.
"This issue is isolated to that precinct," Hogan, the Duval County Supervisor of Elections, said.
Hogan said through no fault of their own, voter precinct 1104 changed location three times in a year, which was unusual in itself.
"We did confirm another site until July 15 and we missed sending another voter information card out," said Hogan.
But he said the sample ballot that was mailed out afterward had the correct precinct, and it was updated on the SOE's website.
He said they also positioned two workers at the only precinct to inform voters when they showed up.
Akers would eventually case his ballot at the new location, Julington Baptist Church, but not without some degree of frustration and shaken confidence in the supervisor of elections office.
"I hope this doesn't happen in the upcoming Nov. 3 elections," said Akers.
This was only one of the issues facing voters. At the precinct on Firestone Road, state road construction made it a challenge for voters to get to the polls.
"We're trying to get signs out," said Hogan.
Hogan said they also had a problem with a tabulator machine at another precinct, but they were able to quickly exchange the machine so it was not disruptive.
Hogan said the biggest issue during this election primary for him was the voter turnout. Hogan was predicting between a 30-to-40 percent turn out but by midmorning, he realized his forecast was too ambitious.
"It has been a lot slower than we thought it would be," said Hogan.