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Early Voters Cast Primary Election Ballots

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By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 12, 2008

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

"I want to get it over with," said Pimenta, 65. 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 Monday morning, the first day of the early voting period, which lasts until Aug. 23. The primary is 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 Monday morning at the library.

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

"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 Monday, 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 November's 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. By 6 p.m. Monday, 921 people had cast an early ballot. The chief of staff for the elections office reported a trouble-free day.

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 general election begins Oct. 20.

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

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