Melissa Ross
Even though turnout is only expected to be around 30 percent and polls show the majority of voters aren’t tuned into the candidates or the races, early voting gets underway today in Duval County leading up to the March 24 Unitary Election.
At stake: the mayor’s and sheriff’s offices, along with a slew of City Council seats and a couple of ballot referendums.
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland says his office is prepared.
“Having been a leader in the most early voting sites per capita in large counties in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, we will have 18 early voting sites for the Spring Election cycle. This will be eight more sites than were used in 2011,” says Holland.
Holland, the outgoing SOE who is running unopposed to become the county’s property appraiser, is credited with overseeing major changes to local elections procedures after 22,000 ballots were controversially tossed in Duval during the notoriously disputed 2000 election and recount. Those changes included the significant expansion of early voting sites.
“We have seen the shift of voting from Election Day to early voting in Duval County and will continue to give the service the voters have come to expect,” says Holland.
Meanwhile, a new poll from the Public Opinion Research Laboratory at the University of North Florida reveals that crime tops the list of concerns among likely voters in Duval County.
The polling lab also reports 62 percent of likely voters approve of the city of Jacksonville adding sexual orientation to the existing list of groups protected from workplace discrimination, while a mere 27 percent are opposed.
“This issue has strong bipartisan support,” says UNF pollster Mike Binder.
Early voting starts today and continues through March 22, the Sunday before the March 24 election.
