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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2002
It is a day of firsts in Pasco County.
Today is Election Day. Who can forget in light of the political advertising bombarding the airwaves and filling mailboxes?
Regardless, it is a chance for Democrats to pick their gubernatorial nominee and for Republicans to complete their statewide ticket for the November election.
Today marks the countywide debut of new electronic voting machines. County acquisition of the multimillion-dollar touch screen voting system came in the aftermath of the statistical tie among Florida voters in the 2000 presidential election and the ensuing criticism of punch card ballots. In all, there will be 1,400 machines used in 151 precincts today.
Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning and his staff worked hard to ensure the machines were available for a public test drive. Browning even drew criticism from some quarters for scheduling voting demonstrations at partisan political events. It was unwarranted. What better way to reach the audience most likely to travel to the polls on primary day?
Today also is the first time that term limits, excluding New Port Richey, have helped determine the makeup of the Pasco County ballot. Voters will select nominees for state Senate District 11 and House District 45. Incumbents there are leaving office, or running for a different seat, because of changes in the Florida Constitution approved by voters a decade ago.
Today is the premiere of a Pasco School Board seat being decided in a nonpartisan race on the September ballot. It and the contest for County Commission District 4 are open to all voters. The campaigns by and large were disappointing. They featured little or no substantive debate on issues confronting the county and school district, but did focus a lot of attention on the ability -- or lack thereof -- of individual candidates to complete required financial disclosure forms.
The School Board, County Commission and five judicial races for the Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court bench are significant reasons for independent voters to come to the polls. Historically, independents stay away in the September election. Four years ago, overall turnout in the September primary was 17 percent, but less than 7 percent for nonpartisan voters. In 1992, gubernatorial primaries for both major parties lured 25 percent of eligible voters to the polls, but less than 4 percent of the independents.
Browning optimistically predicted an overall turnout today of 37 to 40 percent.
Most important, today is the first countywide exercise in democracy since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., 364 days ago. On Wednesday, people will stand silently, wave flags, pray, attend memorial services, watch the airwaves and read newspaper accounts of the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11.
There's another way to display patriotism. Start a day early. Go vote today.