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Rain Doesn't Dampen Spirits In Early Voting's Final Hours

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By NEIL JOHNSON

njohnson@tampatrib.com

Published: November 3, 2008

TAMPA - Voters on Sunday swarmed local elections offices offering one of the last chances to cast a ballot before Election Day.

Elizabeth Davenport of Brandon came to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections' Falkenburg Road office prepared for the hour-long wait, equipped with crossword puzzles and an umbrella to weather the intermittent afternoon showers.

"I'm voting because I may not be able to on Tuesday," said Davenport.

"By the time I pick him up and get over there, it may be too late," she said, referring to her son, Clayton, 9, who was busy playing a hand-held video game.

This is the first election for Jean Desir, 31, of Riverview, a newly naturalized citizen.

An electronics technician, Desir moved here from Haiti. He's worried about technical jobs like his being moved overseas.

"Election Day, I have to work. That's why I'm here today," he said, smiling and holding a folded umbrella. "So far, it's moving pretty efficiently."

The elections offices on Falkenburg Road and Kennedy Boulevard opened from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday for voters to pick up and fill out absentee ballots.

There was no early voting in Hillsborough County, but three elections offices in Pinellas County opened from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday for early voters.

The line snaked around the elections office in Largo, where people waited for hours. But that didn't seem to bother many of the people who showed up to vote.

"I'm very glad to see the crowd," said Edward Felton, of Seminole, even though he was last in line at the time.

Leon Waller of St. Petersburg brought his family to wait with him.

"It's definitely worth it. It's important to vote, important to try to make a difference and try to make a change," he said. "If you don't vote, you can't complain."

Elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area, early voting ended Saturday.

Early voting in Hillsborough this year easily eclipsed early voting for the 2004 general election and set a record.

As of Saturday, 146,333 residents in Hillsborough had cast their ballots early. That's slightly more than 20 percent of the county's 707,000 registered voters.

In 2004, 86,617 people voted before Election Day.

Of the 13 early voting locations, the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library drew the most - 15,715 voters in 11 days.

In addition to early voting, the elections office had processed 16,000 absentee ballots as of Thursday.

Reporter Rich Shopes contributed to this report. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731.

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