Voting outside the lines popular

For many reasons, including crowds, more people are voting by absentee ballot.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 5, 2000

INVERNESS -- Eileen Salender was feeling fine last week, but she didn't want an unexpected illness to keep her from going to the polls on Tuesday.

[Times photo: Steve Hasel] Susan Gill, left, supervisor of elections, explains the voting method to Henry DuBois, 102, at the New Horizon assisted living facility.

So she had the polls come to her. Salender filled out an absentee ballot at her kitchen table and took it into the Supervisor of Elections Office on Friday, just to make sure that her vote would be counted.

"I did it just in case that particular day I'm not feeling well," Salender said. "I'm 80 years old. Today I feel fine, but I just want to be sure."

Other voters who streamed into the Supervisor of Elections Office last week had their own reasons for voting absentee. Some couldn't get away from work on Nov. 7, while others planned to be out of town. Some simply wanted to avoid the crowds at the polling places on Tuesday.

"The law says you may request an absentee ballot if you're going to be out of the precinct area on election day. That's pretty broad," Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill said. "It's becoming more of a convenience thing that many people take advantage of."

By 10 a.m. Friday, 9,993 voters had requested absentee ballots -- that's one out of every eight Citrus County voters. And people kept trickling through Gill's offices on Friday and Saturday to vote, she said.

Not only are more people voting by absentee ballot this year, but nearly 60 percent of those votes are cast by senior citizens age 66 and over. According to the latest tally, 5,728 voters in that age group requested absentee ballots. More than 2,000 of them were age 80 and above.

"There's no lines, no waiting and no confusion," said Virginia Miller, a voter in her 70s who cast her absentee ballot last week. "You just go in and five minutes later you're coming out and you've done the job. They're very efficient (at the Supervisor of Elections Office)."

Voters can request an absentee ballot by filling out a form that includes name, address and the last four digits of their Social Security number. A witness must sign off on the ballot, and the voter can send it by mail or deliver it in person to the elections office.

Recognizing the growing numbers of absentee voters, many candidates send campaign mailings to the voters who have requested mail-in ballots.

"If they're out of the state or out of the country, they have no way of getting to the forums and getting informed, so that's why it's important to send them something," County Commission candidate Millie King said.

But property appraiser candidate John Barnes said about a third of the absentee voters do not request mail-in ballots, but simply come into the Supervisor of Elections Office to fill out a ballot there.

"I saw 15 or 18 people in there voting when I dropped off some papers (Friday) morning," Barnes said. "They smile and shake my hand and say, "I just voted for you.' "

Issues among retiree voters are as diverse as those for any other group.

Not all seniors have personal stakes in the debate over Medicare, prescription drugs or Social Security. Some, like Miller, have health care coverage and pensions through their retirement packages.

"I am more concerned about taxes, especially for educational purposes," Miller said. "That gripes me."

Miller admits she has an unusual way for deciding her vote.

"I look at them, I evaluate their expressions as they talk, their mannerisms and their body language," she said. "Secondarily, I pay attention to what they're saying. I learned a long time ago that you can't go by what people say but by how they look when they're saying it."

Phyllis Steuerwald, 82, said no single issue propels her to the polls. She casts her ballot in every election, she said, because voting is important.

Steuerwald has moved among a half-dozen states in her lifetime, and each time she makes sure she gets a library card and a new voter's registration card once she has moved in.

"You have to (vote), if you want to have any say in what's going on in the world," she said.

Steuerwald said she dislikes the two-party system, and would register as an independent if she could still participate in the primary elections.

"Down here you're wasting your chance to vote in the primary (as an independent)," she said. "You can only vote for the Democrat or the Republican, not the good guy."

John Cooney, 73, has watched the Medicare debate closely, although he is fortunate to have his own prescription drug program. The country cannot afford either of the prescription drug plans offered by Al Gore or George W. Bush, Cooney said, but citizens would still be better off if less aid went to foreign countries.

"We need to take care of our own first," he said. "That's one of the problems we have. We cannot support the entire world."

Cooney says he is serious about voting: He has not missed an election in more than 50 years.

"If I'm not home, I do it by absentee," he said. "It's my only voice, the only voice I have."

Free rides

INVERNESS -- You say you can't vote on Tuesday because you can't get to your precinct? The Citrus County Democratic Executive Committee will provide free rides for area Democrats. Call Joe Cino at 628-7191. The Citrus County Republican Executive Committee will also provide free rides for area Republicans. Call Executive Committee office at 726-3124. Citrus County Transportation will provide rides to the polls as long as people call by noon Monday. Call 527-7630.

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