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STEPHEN HEGARTYWith days to go before the election, early voting and absentee ballots have already boosted turnout to 20 percent.
Early voting was supposed to be over for the day at 5 p.m. Friday, but you wouldn't know it judging from the line at the Land O'Lakes elections office.
There were 161 people waiting when the last number was handed out. It would be sundown and nearly 7 p.m. by the time the last early ballot was cast.
Early voting caught on in a big way this week in Pasco. The lines got longer each day, and still the early voters kept coming.
What are the results of all this early voting?
Pasco County already has a 20 percent voter turnout. And the election isn't until next week.
That includes about 24,000 early votes and more than 29,000 absentee ballots already received at the elections office.
Let's put that into perspective. In the 2002 primary election, Pasco had a 26 percent turnout. At this rate, Pasco might actually pass that percentage before Election Day. There are still two more early voting days - today and Monday - before the traditional Election Day. And the absentee ballots are still coming in bunches. The county's canvassing board will be sorting through absentee ballots today.
Perhaps the best comparison is the 2000 general election, when Pasco had a 66 percent turnout. Pasco Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning expects to exceed that with a turnout of perhaps 70 to 75 percent this year.
Some early voters had no choice; they will be tied up on Election Day. Joyce Bragg of Land O'Lakes has plans to work a GOP phone bank Monday and Tuesday, so she waited a couple of hours to vote Friday.
Others just wanted to vote early and be done with it.
"It's good to get it out of the way," said Bill Burnham of Dade City. "All these ads that are still running, they're wasting their money."
Early in the week, at certain times of day voters had to wait 15 to 20 minutes. By the end of the week, waits of 45 minutes to an hour were common.
In New Port Richey, the S-shaped line filled the lobby of the West Pasco Government Center. A few people left after seeing more than 100 people in line, but most folks just put on a smile, chatted with their neighbor and made the best of the wait.
"At least it's indoors and not outdoors like some other places," said Nick Kashis, a real estate broker who waited a half-hour with his wife, Christie, and 1-year-old son, Sebastian.
The longest lines were at the end of the day in Land O'Lakes.
Pauline Phillips, 86, of Land O'Lakes waited for nearly two hours, and she wasn't bothered by the crowd or by the long wait. To the contrary.
"I'm glad to see all these people voting," said the woman who estimates she probably cast her first presidential vote for FDR. "I don't mind waiting. I think it's wonderful."
As it became clear that significant numbers of voters were casting early ballots, campaigns started treating the county's three early polling places as the gold mines for votes that they are.
Supporters waved Bush/Cheney or Kerry/Edwards signs in the courtyard in New Port Richey, while a couple of local candidates gave out pamphlets and handshakes to score some last-minute votes.
"It makes a big difference to be out here," said Lona O'Reilly, campaigning for her son, School Board candidate Ryan O'Reilly. "We've gotten so many votes because people say, "Where's the opponent?' "
Even the line had a carnival-like feel. In New Port Richey a jester, a '20s flapper girl and a platinum-haired angel - all dressed up for Halloween parties - waited their turn. In Land O'Lakes a boy dressed as Spider-Man raced up the stairs.
"It takes a lot of guts to go down like this," said Doris D'Angelo, dressed in a gleaming gown with nylon angel's wings and a tinsel halo - her getup for the office Halloween party at Atria Windsor Woods assisted living facility. "But voting is important."
As lines got longer this week, Pasco Elections Supervisor Browning resolved to open more early voting sites in the future.
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing," Browning said. "Every time you open a new site, there are technical issues and staffing issues. And if I open a site in Holiday, I have to open one in Hudson and one in Zephyrhills."
Browning said he was certain there would be more early voting sites for the 2008 presidential election, though it might not be necessary for the 2006 gubernatorial race.
Browning said his bottom line was that, despite the lines, most early voters generally seemed happy.
"I ask my staff every day: "How long was the wait? Were people leaving happy?" Browning said.
Times staff writer Bridget Hall Grumet contributed to this report.