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Pasco Voters Head to the Polls

Tribune Photo by Chris Urso

Kim Bogart, left, Pasco County Sheriff's candidate along with his wife Trish Weston-Bogart campaign along Rowan Road Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 in New Port Richey.

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 26, 2008

Voters across the county are heading to the polls this afternoon to cast ballots for a host of congressional, state and county candidates seeking party nominations.

As expected, turnout at the county's 154 polling stations has been light.

By midday, only 7,200 ballots had been cast countywide, but elections officials expect a spike early this evening.

"It's a little slow right now," said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley.

Corley said despite a few minor problems with one machine at a Zephyrhills polling station, voters seem to be adapting to the new optical-scan voting system. This system uses a paper ballot, and votes are cast by filling in ovals.

He said some voters at the Tropical Acres precinct in Zephyrhills were told they were at the wrong polling station because elections officials had combined two precincts into one, and the machines didn't recognize that.

"We had it fixed in less than an hour," Corley said. "There's been no problems since then."

Among the races on today's ballot are primary elections for nonpartisan school board, three county commission seats, sheriff, clerk of court, two judicial seats, mosquito control, state political party committee and many community development districts. Seats in the state senate and U.S. House are also up for election.

There were 284,246 registered voters in Pasco County. Of those, 112,095 are Republicans, and 105,248 are Democrats. The other 66,903 belong to other parties or have no party preference.

Voters also need photo identification that includes a signature. Most people use a driver's license or a state-issued photo identification card, Corley said. But other forms of identification that have both a picture and a signature are acceptable.

Polls will be open until 7 p.m. For information, go to www.pascovotes.com

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 948-4216 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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