TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Caliente Seeks Polling Site For Voters In Birthday Suits

ADVERTISEMENT

By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: October 31, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Whether they're cooking, cleaning, watching TV or playing tennis, nudists like to be nude.

Same goes for voting.

People at the upscale, clothing-optional Caliente Resorts off U.S. 41 want to establish the first clothing-optional polling place in the country. Most voters who live at Caliente exercise their rights at a nearby subdivision, where clothing isn't optional.

Although there's no concrete data on how many nudists live in the area, state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, has estimated that Pasco County has 12,000 "nude votes."

The resort wants to make it easier for Caliente residents and members of the surrounding nudist community to vote, said Caliente spokeswoman Angye Fox.

Resort officials have floated the idea of a clothing-optional polling place by Brian Corley, Pasco County's supervisor of elections. But Corley said he isn't willing to "even consider" opening additional sites until after the 2010 redistricting.

Officials with the American Association for Nude Recreation, which provides lobbying and marketing efforts to about 260 member resorts, said they know of no clothing-optional polling places in the United States. Caliente is not an AANR member.

State law wouldn't prohibit a clothing-optional polling station, said Jennifer Davis, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office.

"That would be up to the local supervisor," she said.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT