“Disappointed” is how several supervisors of elections in Northeast Florida described voter turnout for the primary election Tuesday.
Multiple supervisors of elections told First Coast News they wanted to see their counties reach 30 percent voter turnout. Few came close.
According to elections offices, Baker County exceeded 50 percent voter turnout and Nassau County saw about 30 percent voter turnout. St. Johns County ended at 25 percent, Duval County around 20 percent and Clay County saw just under 19 percent voter turnout.
“For the primary, people aren’t as excited, obviously, by the turnout," said Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland. "And I think that’s mainly because of the number of races. A lot of times people come out for just a few and you’ve got to realize for those who weren’t part of the two major parties, they only had either two or three races to vote for and that itself will turn down the turnout.”
Supervisors of election said Election Day went smoothly. Holland said they had a few pieces of equipment that had to be fixed, but that it didn't interrupt voting. He said all voting locations opened on time. That's even though Holland explained at one polling place, poll workers accidentally locked themselves out of the building.
Around lunch time, the Nassau County supervisor of elections said they were seeing 100 voters every 10 minutes. In Clay County, Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless said they were ready for 100 percent voter turnout, though they didn’t expect that.
“Because there were a number of contests to which individual candidates did not have opposition, the ballot was light," Chambless said. "But there was something for everybody.”
Organizations working to "get out the vote" also said the day went smoothly. Christian Gonzalez-Orbegoso, North Florida regional director with Florida Rising, said their efforts went well.
“It’s been going amazing, actually," Gonzalez-Orbegoso said. "Many folks that we’ve engaged have already stated that they’ve voted, which is amazing. We’ve been canvassing and door-knocking and lit dropping and phone calling voters in the Arlington area, in Northside, in the Springfield area. They’ve all either [been] like, ‘Thank you for the reminder that today is Election Day and to go to a polling location,' or, ‘Hey I will get out right after I finish work!’”
In Duval County, there were 26 fewer polling locations this Election Day, Holland said, but they added more sites to early voting.
