Tampabay: Runoffs may draw a trickle to polls

With only a handful of races on the ballot in each county, voter turnout in today's primary is expected to be low, perhaps in the 7 to 8 percent range. And the institution of universal primaries this year adds a layer of obfuscation to the situation.

"Some people just don't understand," said Ann Mau, Hernando County supervisor of elections. "Some voters in the first primary literally threw down their ballots and walked out."

Although there were several universal contests in the September primary, there is only one in the Tampa Bay area today.

In Pinellas, the state House 54 race between Republicans John Carassas and Dave Miller is open to all voters -- so long as they are among the 84,000 registered voters who live in the district.

The rest of the elections are partisan primary runoffs. That means if you're a Democrat, you can vote only in Democratic contests. Same goes for Republicans. If you're with another party or no affiliation, you're out of luck.

Supervisors of elections in the Tampa Bay area uniformly asked that voters take note of two electoral rules: If you're not yet registered to vote, you have until Oct. 10 to do so for the Nov. 7 general election. And when you go to the polls today, remember to bring a piece of identification with your photo and signature, such as your driver's license.

They say the identification request, unfortunately, will pertain to only a small segment of voters.

Deborah Clark, Pinellas supervisor of elections, said it is difficult to forecast turnout, but history would have the contest decided by relatively few voters.

"The second primary turnout is usually extremely low, but I know both candidates are out working very hard," Clark said of the state House 54 race, a seat that represents a strip of the Pinellas gulf coast from Clearwater to Pass-a-Grille.

The situation in Hillsborough is similar, said Pam Iorio, Hillsborough supervisor of elections. The only race on the ballot is the County Commission District 3 Democratic runoff between Jim Hargrett and Thomas Scott.

It's difficult to get the word out about the election to the right segment of people, she said. Only Democrats in 83 of the county's 319 precincts can go to the polls. "It's for about 25 percent of the county and for Democrats only," she said.

Iorio was hesitant to predict turnout. In the first primary, voters flocked to the polls in that district -- more than a quarter of the voters in that district voted as opposed to a 17 percent countywide turnout.

"The primary suggests there was voter interest in that race, but runoffs, they're a funny thing," Iorio said. "It's very difficult to predict a runoff turnout."

In Pasco, Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning said he expected between 7 and 9 percent of voters to turn out for the Republican runoff for sheriff.

"I hope I'm dead wrong," Browning said. "I hope we have a pretty good turnout but it's doubtful."

Browning said the confusion over universal seems to have passed in his county. Countywide open primaries in September for public defender, tax collector and a county commission seat were enough, he thinks, to get voters through the learning curve.

Florida voters passed an amendment to the state Constitution in 1998 that created universal primaries. That means that if there is a race that has candidates from only one political party, then all registered voters get to vote.

Universal primaries have led to some confusion as voters work through the variables of party affiliation, geography and candidates to figure out the ballot they get to vote on.

"It's going to take a while for people to get used to it," Clark said.

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