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Early Voting For Primary Election Starts Today

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 11, 2008

Updated: 08/11/2008 12:50 pm

Joe Pimenta and Marzell Brown stood outside College Hill Branch Library just before 10 a.m. today, waiting for the doors to open so they could vote in the Aug. 26 primary election.

"I want to get it over with," said the 65-year-old Pimenta. By voting early, he can avoid the long lines on election day, he said.

"I'm going to be out of town on election day," said Brown, 72.

The two came together from their Ybor City neighborhood this morning, the first day of the early voting period, which lasts until Aug. 23. The primary election is on Aug. 26 and includes races for seats in the U.S. House and the state Legislature as well as the Hillsborough County property appraiser and one county commission post.

Pimenta and Brown, who say they never miss an election, were among the few showing up to vote this morning at the library.

The first hour at the Hillsborough County supervisor of elections office on Falkenburg Road produced just one voter, said Michelle Reiff.

"People like it," Reiff said of early voting. "A lot take advantage of it."

There are 13 sites in Hillsborough accepting early ballots, she said: 10 libraries, two election offices and city hall in Plant City.

One of the busier early polling places is the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library in Carrollwood. During the 2006 elections, poll workers recorded more than 10,000 early votes there.

Within 20 minutes of the Carrollwood branch's opening today, about a dozen people showed up to cast their ballots, poll worker Phillip Boneta said.

He said the early voting on new machines for the primary will be a trial run for the crunch of the November general election.

"This is good training for us," he said.

The number of Hillsborough County voters to cast primary election ballots more than doubled from 2004 through 2006, elections officials say.

Nonpartisan school board and judicial seats will be filled during the primary. Runoffs, if needed, would be held during the general election.

The early voting period for the November general election begins Oct. 20

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

Voting Vitals

Primary Election Day: Aug. 26

Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Aug. 20

Early voting: Today through Aug. 23

Who can vote: Florida has closed primaries, which means that to vote in a party's primary election, you must be registered with that party. The only exception is State House District 59. All voters in that district, regardless of party, may vote for that seat because the only candidates running come from the same party. All voters, regardless of party, can vote in nonpartisan races (school board and judicial races).

What to bring when you vote: A current and valid picture ID with a signature. Approved forms of picture ID are Florida driver's license; Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; U.S. passport; debit or credit card; or military, student, retirement center, neighborhood association or public assistance identification.

Can you still vote if you do not bring identification? Yes. You can vote a provisional ballot.

New this election: State voters will use optical-scan voting systems designed to provide a paper trail.

Source: Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections

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