About 850 people take advantage of early voting Monday. Their reasons and politics vary, but they agree early voting is a good idea.
By WILL VAN SANT
Published October 19, 2004
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Roger Ludwick waits in line to vote Monday at the Westside Government Center in Spring Hill. Early voting continues at county government centers in Spring Hill and Brooksville through Nov. 1. Where to vote early
SPRING HILL - Four years after the confusion and scandal of the 2000 presidential election, county residents joined voters from across the state Monday who cast their ballots early hoping for a less chaotic result.
Donna Gallo, 72, stood in a line that snaked from the Supervisor of Elections Office out into the parking lot at the Westside Government Center in Spring Hill. She will be in Taiwan on Nov. 2 visiting her granddaughter, so the early voting option is a great convenience. But Gallo and her husband, Joe, 81, also wanted to avoid possible Election Day glitches.
"It's going to be a close election and there is going to be more turnout than ever before," said Gallo, a Kerry supporter who views Bush's 2000 victory as illegitimate. "I want to make sure my vote gets counted."
Gary Scott of Spring Hill works for a St. Louis company that makes conveyor belt and packaging equipment. He often travels across the country and overseas to train people how to use the machinery. Early voting was ideal for him.
Scott, 53, spent 22 years in the Navy and is familiar with absentee voting, a process that he said can be somewhat confusing for some. Voting early was simple, Scott said, and he could understand how some might view it as more reliable after the events of Election Day 2000.
"I think it's a great idea," he said.
Early voting is being offered at the Westside Government Center and the Supervisor of Elections Office at the County Government Center in downtown Brooksville through Nov. 1. To vote, you must have a valid identification card with a photo and signature - a driver's license works - and your name will be checked against registration rolls.
Once cleared, you are given a paper ballot to fill out that you then feed into an optical scanner that counts votes.
Just before 5 p.m. Monday, and with some people still lined up, 850 voters had cast early ballots - 663 in Spring Hill and 187 in Brooksville. In the entire two weeks of early voting prior to the August primaries, 1,736 voters cast early ballots.
"It's been a steady flow of voters in here all day," said Supervisor of Elections Annie Williams. "It's wonderful. I love it."
At the government center in Brooksville, H.L. and Jo Midkiff came to vote early to avoid Election Day crowds and to free up their schedule so they could visit friends and family if they choose to on Nov. 2.
The Brooksville residents said they preferred early voting to the complications of filling out an absentee ballot. The couple not only went for Kerry, they backed his fellow party candidates too.
"My daddy would roll over in his grave if he knew I voted anything other than a straight Democratic ticket," said H.L. Midkiff, 78.
Shortly before the Midkiffs voted, another Brooksville couple, Harold and Janet Graham, had cast ballots for Bush.
Harold Graham, 61, said he did three tours in Vietnam with the Air Force and that Kerry's statements after he completed his service distorted the truth and fueled anti-war sentiment, eroding confidence that the war could be won.
"He made it sound like we were all murderers and rapists," Graham said. "Plain, flat lies."
As voters poured into her office, Williams said it was clear that early voting was a hit with those who did not want to wait until Nov. 2 to express their views.
"People are really eager," she said.
Early voting is available this week and next between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Hernando County Government Center, Room 165, 20 N Main St., Brooksville, or at the Westside Government Center, 7473 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill.
Saturday, the Brooksville office will be open from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. to serve early voters. And on Oct. 30, the Spring Hill office will offer the service during the same hours.
To learn more about early voting, call the Supervisor of Elections Office at 754-4125.
