Popularity of early voting changes campaign strategies

Early voting for the primary elections begins today, and if past years are any indication, an onslaught of voters will head to the polls during the next two weeks.

The number of Hillsborough County voters casting their primary election ballot early has increased by more than 100 percent since the county began offering early voting - from 86,642 in 2004 to 146,518, nearly a quarter of the county's registered voters, in 2008.

For some candidates, the dramatic shift toward early voting has forced them to focus their campaigning and fundraising efforts on the days leading up to Aug. 24 primary.

"The whole dynamic has changed," said Les Miller, whose campaign experience dates back to the 1990s. "You've got to get out there and focus on getting that early vote and raising enough money or your campaign will be in trouble," said Miller, a Democrat who is challenging incumbent Kevin White for his seat on the Hillsborough County Commission.

Not so long ago, candidates largely had their sights set on Primary Day. But with more voters casting early ballots to avoid long lines at polling stations, that has changed.

Josh Burgin, a Republican who is challenging incumbent Mark Sharpe for his county commission seat in the primary, said many campaigns begun studying detailed voter demographics to determine how many voters are likely to cast their ballots early.

He said the statistics also help candidates figure out whether a particular voter is more likely, based on previous election data, to vote early or wait until Election Day.

That information is helpful for candidates trying to stretch out limited campaign dollars to target voters from the end of the official qualifying period through Election Day.

"The last thing you want to do is peak too early," he said. "You have to pace yourself."

Those running in this year's primary election include challengers to members of the U.S. House, state legislative seats, and positions on the seven-member county commission.

While the final votes for most of the offices will be cast in November's general election, nonpartisan school board members and judges will be elected during the primary.

Elections officials are prepared for a record turnout of early voters before the primary.

"A lot of people are taking advantage of early voting, not just here but nationwide," said Craig Latimer, chief of staff for Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Earl Lennard. "They may not be able to get out of work on primary day, or just don't want to stand in line."

In Hillsborough County, early voting sites open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. are at the County Center, the Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center on Falkenburg Road and Plant City Hall. Sites open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. are at the Bloomingdale, College Hill, Jan Platt, Jimmie Keel, New Tampa, Riverview, South Shore, Temple Terrace, Town N' Country (a new location), West Tampa and Upper Tampa Bay libraries.

County elections officials say they have doubled the number of check-in stations and are piloting a real-time connection to their voter registration database so poll workers can perform address changes for voters, though this won't be available at every location every day. In addition, the supervisor's office is adding a link from its website (votehillsborough.org) to allow voters to get current wait times.

Pasco sites, the East and West government centers, the Land O'Lakes, Hudson, New River and South Holiday libraries as well as the elections supervisor's location at Village Market of Wesley Chapel have varying hours Monday through Saturday that can be found on the election supervisor's website, www.pascovotes.com.

Pinellas County early voting sites are at the election supervisors' offices in the county courthouse in Clearwater, the Election Service Center on Starkey Road in Largo and the County Building in downtown St. Petersburg, Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to noon.

Early voting ends on Saturday, Aug. 21.

Early voting at a glance

Primary Election Day is Aug. 24, but early voting runs today through Aug. 21.

Only voters registered as a member of the Republican or Democratic party can vote in that party's primary election, unless candidates in contested partisan races are all from the same party.

Nonpartisan races, such as school board and judicial races, are open to all voters. Unless a runoff is needed, the August vote determines the winner of nonpartisan races.

The number of Hillsborough voters casting early ballots has increased in recent years:

• In 2004, 86,642 voters or 18.63 percent, cast early ballots

• In 2006, 54,051 or 18.53 percent, cast early ballots

• In 2008, 146,518 people, or 24.40 percent, cast early ballots

Source: Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections