Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Lithia voters say economy tops their lists of concerns.
A lull in voters at the Grace Community Church of FishHawk precinct gave volunteer poll clerk Lillian Ross a chance to reflect on why she became a poll worker and how the voting process has changed. Encouraged by friends, the 45-year Lithia resident became a poll worker 25 years ago when paper ballots and pencils were the tools by which residents cast their votes. Back then, voters handed their ballots to the clerk who stuffed them into a wooden ballot box. Today, high-tech voting machines insure that lost, damaged or indecipherable ballots are a thing of the past, said Ross. "I've seen it all in 25 years," said Ross. "There's been a lot of changes in the way we vote." When Ross became a poll worker, FishHawk Ranch didn't exist and Lithia-…
Those voting said they favored Gingrich and Romney.
Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were the favorites at the Bloomingdale Regional Library, where voter turnout was low Tuesday but those who did vote had strong feelings about the Presidential Preference Primary. "It's been slow all morning," said eight-year pollworker Arthur Lusk. "People have been kind of trickling in. No one's had to wait in line. I think a lot of people voted early." Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard told CNN on Tuesday morning that early voting and vote by mail totals have already exceeded levels from 2008, the last presidential election year. Lennard said he wouldn’t be surprised if he had a 40 percent turnout in Hillsborough. As of 2:30 pm., 10 sample precincts around the county were reporting …
Voting in the Florida Presidential Preference Primary has only been going on for a few hours.
While turnout at Hillsborough County’s polls has been sparse this morning, the supervisor of elections office predicts a strong turnout overall. Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard told CNN on Tuesday morning that early voting and vote by mail totals have already exceeded levels from 2008, the last presidential election year. Lennard said he wouldn’t be surprised if he had a 40 percent turnout in Hillsborough. “If history is an indicator … I get the feeling we’re going to have a good, strong, robust turnout,” Lennard told the network. Even so, Lennard’s office reported that about 18 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballot as of 2:30 p.m. today, based on 10 sample precents around the county. The polls remain …
Jason Bartolone
2:15 pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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