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Voter education project begins with the young
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- In a county where three of every four residents is a registered voter, to question whether people know how to vote might sound funny. Annie Williams, Hernando County supervisor of elections, doesn't take the matter lightly, though. Invoking the adage that "we just want them to be informed," Williams has launched a new voter education program that starts in the elementary schools and reaches the county's oldest residents. She's making good on a campaign promise and following a state legislative edict for election reform. A $64,000 state grant helps pay for the program. "We are here to help our voters get involved in the process," Williams said. "They do have to take some responsibility to be informed. But we are going to help them." Her office is starting with the young, following the theory that children who learn to do something considered important are likely to continue as they get older. Perhaps the best example is recycling. When school groups visit the elections office, each child gets a junior voter identification card, which includes a pledge to always vote. The students also get brief lessons on the importance of voting, and coloring sheets and word search puzzles related to elections. For the first time, the elections office helped a school -- Powell Middle -- conduct its student government balloting. More such activities are planned. "If you start stressing it early enough, I think they will want to be involved in the democratic process when they turn 18," Williams said. When Election Day rolls around, students will get letters to remind their parents to vote. "A lot of parents do listen to their kids," she said. "We are reaching the kids, stressing how important it is to vote. Then we are going to send the information to their parents." For the first time, the election office will send a sample ballot to the home of every registered voter, rather than just publishing it in a newspaper. The office also has printed two new brochures dealing with key problems: filling out the ballot and voting in primaries. The county has many transplants from other states, Williams noted, and many of them do not understand the primary is closed. Florida voters cannot register as no-party and then vote in a party primary, she said. Neither can they change their registration the day they vote, as some states allow. Showing people how to mark their ballot also is important, she said, because of questions raised after the November 2000 election. Hernando County had less than 1 percent of its ballots mismarked in that election, but in the September primary some candidates suggested the ballots were confusing. Williams said she hopes to have the brochures, possibly along with videos, placed in the front of shops that people frequent. The department also is working to improve its Internet site, so people can get more information there. Elections staff members are available to give presentations to any civic or community group, she said, and additional poll worker training is planned. Williams also welcomed any other ideas to bolster the effort. "This is very important, because we do get a lot of calls from voters," Williams said. "We lost a lot of contact with people who register to vote when the Motor Voter Law went into effect in '95."
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