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JORGE SANCHEZThough history shows only about 32 percent will show up at the polls, all registered voters are welcome to cast their primary votes.
Despite all the dollars spent on political ads, all the candidates' signs planted like palms by roadsides and in yards, all the stump speeches, chicken dinners, interviews and political forums, here is the sobering news about today's primary election:
The majority of voters - nearly 70 percent - probably will sit this one out.
The predicted voter turnout for the election, which is full of local races, is about 32 percent, according to Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill.
That means that from the voter base of 88,101, only about 28,192 people will actually vote today. Gill said she came up with her estimates after studying the 2000 and 2002 elections.
In 2000, 34.1 percent of registered Republicans voted, 29.6 percent of Democrats voted and 27.7 percent of unaffiliated voters cast a ballot. The overall voting percentage for the 2002 elections was 30.4 percent, Gill said.
Of Citrus County's 88,101 voters, the largest group is the Republicans with 36,542, followed by the Democrats with 34,685 and the group marked as "others," which includes independents, at 16,874.
Even though Election Day is today, about 6,400 people already have voted in Citrus, either by absentee ballot or by early voting.
Early voting allowed people who did not request an absentee ballot to vote at the elections offices in Crystal River and Inverness or the Central Ridge Library in Beverly Hills.
Early voting is not available today. All votes must be cast at a precinct.
Also, any mail-in ballot that was not put in the mail can be hand-delivered today to the Crystal River elections office at 801 SE U.S. 19 by 5 p.m., or the Inverness elections office on N Apopka Avenue next to the courthouse by 7 p.m.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. Bring a photo ID, but if you don't bring one, you still can vote if you sign an affidavit stating that you are who you claim to be.
Democrats and Republicans have primary battles to decide. But even if you don't belong to either major political party, you still can vote for School Board and judicial races, which are nonpartisan. Also, keep in mind that while county commissioners and School Board members represent districts, they are elected countywide.
Voters may take whatever informational materials they want into a voting booth and can wear political items or clothing to a precinct.
If a voter is unable to come into a polling room due to a disability, the clerk may assign two workers of opposite parties to go outside and allow the voter to vote in their vehicle.
Questions? Call the elections office at 344-6740.
Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313 or e-mail sanchez@sptimes.com