Mediocre promotion of election

Hernando County Supervisor of Elections, Annie Williams, was quoted in this morning's newspaper as saying, "I just wish more people would come out and vote." While Ms. Williams hopes to see a 45% voter turn out in this primary, historically that has not been the case for many years in Hernando County. The voter turn out in 2002 primary hovered just below 24%, with a 28% margin in 2004, and any larger percentage seems almost impossible in this year. One major cause for low voter turn out may fall directly on the supervisor of elections office's mediocre promotion of this year's primary election. Voter education and notification on this primary election has been minimal from the supervisor of elections office. Many residents within Hernando County did not even receive sample ballots this year's to alert them of primary election. A classic example of outdated, forgotten voter notifications from Annie William's office is the old poster that still hangs in the Nobleton post office announcing the 2004 primary election date of 8-31-04. The improvement of voter education by the supervisor of election's office should be one of the major functions for Annie Williams if she is serious about raising voter turnout. Voter apathy could be another reason for low turnout in primary elections. Busy working families are turned off by negative campaigns so they skip the primary elections that seem to be pre-determined by inter-party endorsements. Even though both major parties see increases each year in their ranks by new registered voters, non party registration continues to rise every year. As it stands now, republicans hold a slim margin of 40% registered voters in our county over the democrats at 38% but non party voter registration is at a record level of 20% of registered voters, with minor party registrations coming in at 2%. Another major reason for low voter response in primary elections may fall with the 22% of registered voters not affiliated with a major party. Let's see if we can improve the statistics in Hernando County by voting in this year's primary. Early voting continues through Saturday at the supervisor of elections offices (Brooksville and Forest Oaks) until 4 p.m. The polls open early at 7 a.m. for the Primary Election next Tuesday, September 5th. See you there!