Press Release
By We the People
09-09-24
| To We the People – Some of you are aware that for the past 3+ years I have been a member of the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Advisory Council. It’s an honor to be a participant in what is still the only SOE Advisory Council in the state of Florida. IMHO, participating is time well spent. Established by Janet Adkins early during in her first term in office as the Nassau County SOE, the Advisory Council is comprised of a balanced mix of party “leaders” within the county, including activists like me, and several civic-minded and dedicated individuals who have real-life experience working the polls during multiple primaries and general elections. The purpose of the Council is to foster open and transparent two-way dialog between the SOE team and the community. By meeting together every month or so throughout the year, the SOE team keeps these “key influencers” well-informed of the goings-on within the Supervisor of Elections office so we “influencers” can answer questions coming from our own constituencies about operational plans for upcoming elections, metrics from recent elections, and elections trends over time. The SOE office benefits by gaining our feedback and ideas on how SOE operations could potentially be improved to better ensure election-related processes are voter friendly and outcomes are trustworthy–while being managed in accordance with applicable Florida statutes. One of the most surprising results over time has been how the participating members, regardless of party affiliation, have come to appreciate the other members’ perspectives and ideas. While our meetings in the early days were sort of a Cold War–with an invisible Mason-Dixon line down the center of the room–the members eventually experienced a détente, and now we actively solicit each other’s feedback. Thanks to Janet Adkins’ patience and ever-polite determination, it was a lesson in civility and community building for all of us. Kudos also to Janet Adkins and her team for their (1) obviously time-consuming efforts to prepare the analytical information they share during these meetings, (2) their candor when fully answering our numerous, unrelenting questions, and (3) their willingness to implement many of the suggestions made by the Council. If all governmental entities worked as cooperatively and transparently with their constituencies the way our SOE team does, America really WOULD be great. To give you a better idea of the kinds of information shared in these Advisory Council meetings, I’ve highlighted some of the items covered with us yesterday. [PLEASE NOTE: The information presented below is based on my limited ability to read the details that were displayed on the screen at the front of the room. My apologies if some of the data provide below was not correctly transcribed during my hurried note taking]: 2024 vs. Past Primary Elections in Nassau County Average number of Ballots Voted in previous four primaries: Vote by Mail: 7,588 Early voting: 6,032 Election Day: 9,033 Number of Ballots Voted in August 2024 primary: Vote by Mail: 7,073 Early voting: 7,509 Election Day: 7,904 Trends: We don’t know how ^these^ trends compare to Florida overall There were quite a number of under-votes in the 2024 primary (meaning some voters didn’t vote for any candidates in some races). Janet indicated under-votes typically indicate “ballot fatigue” (meaning voters don’t pay as much attention to the races listed lower on the ballot) or “poor communications” from the candidates in certain races (races for judges are typically under-voted more than others). Nassau County is moving in favor of voting BEFORE election day. “Mature” voters tend to vote ON election day. More voters of all ages are tending to vote on election day now. Uptick in Vote By Mail Requests Directly related to the timing of Vote-by-Mail reminder text messages (primary on the last few days before the primary) and post cards (mailings spread evenly over several weeks before primary) sent out by the SOE office. While voters tend to complain about receiving text messages from candidates, Janet only received two complaints from voters regarding SOE sending text messages (the Council members considered the SOE texts as being helpful vs. unwanted). There was a bigger problem this year with voters indicating they had not received their sample ballots, even though Janet confirmed they were mailed. I raised the point that the five US members of Congress representing NE FL and So GA (including Aaron Bean, Kat Cammack, Buddy Carter, John Rutherford, and Michael Waltz) signed a letter to the Postmaster General of the US Postal Service (in DC) complaining about “the unsatisfactory results produced by the USPS Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) located in Jacksonville, FL” which services portions of southern GA and northern FL (due to delivery delays and lost mail). The sample ballots may have been delayed / not delivered due to the JAX USPS Distribution Center. Comparison of 2024 Primary Voter Turnout While Nassau County voter turnout was “low,” we actually had better turn out than all but one other county in NE FL and the state overall: Baker County: 51.17% (they only have about 8K total voters) Nassau County: 29.82% Flagler County: 29.23% St. Johns County: 25.17% State of Florida: 22.40% Duval County: 19.69% Clay County: 18.83% In general, the smaller the county, the better the turnout. Prep for the 2024 General Election There are currently 212 “Credentialed” Poll Watchers Each party can have ONE poll watcher at a time at each polling room / early voting area Poll Watcher Decorum Poll Watchers CAN: Walk around the room Observe what’s going on Whisper quietly to each other Poll Watchers should NOT: Talk loudly to each other Talk to voters Talk to the clerks Touch the voting machines Get in the way of voters Interfere with voters or the process Wear anything construed to be a political statement Get numbers off the DS200s (digital scanning / counting devices) Observer Decorum Observers must leave the room /voting area when the polls open because they are not credentialed. Voter Turnout Expectation 82% turnout is expected in Nassau County’s 2024 General election List Maintenance Activities in July 203 possible duplicate voter registrations were found 80 of these were removed after sending certified letters to the voters 9 other were removed 2,000 potential non-citizens were identified (vote-by-mail requests?) The Federal Government owns the Citizenship database. Only the Secretary of State has access to it to determine citizenship. 213 non-citizens were blocked from ability to return Vote-by-mail ballots The SOE called them to warn them that their ballots had a problem One Canadian didn’t understand they had to be naturalized to vote in the US 60 had been naturalized but hadn’t updated their status with DMV…appreciated the SOE contacting them so they could address the issue. Most newly naturalized citizens are very positive in terms of needing to provide proof of citizenship / naturalization status. 2024 Election General Timeline The general election is in 60 days The Nassau County ballot will be 3 pages long (one double-sided page with 2-columns per page) and one single sided page with a single column. Deadline to request a Vote-by-Mail ballot is October 24 (12 days before election day). Vote-By-Mail ballot requests so far: Dem: 3,842 Rep: 6,029 Other: 2,598 Vote-by-mail ballots CANNOT be returned / submitted to polling locations on election day. Know your polling places! Your polling location is listed on your sample ballot AND on your Voter ID card. You may be able to vote closer to home during early voting. 334 Election workers will be trained 9/11 to 9/18. Early Voting is 10/23 to 11/2 Election Day is 11/5 Nassau County Voter Registration Registered voters (as of 9/3/24): Dem: 13,290 NPA: 14,377 Other: 2,552 Rep: 45,927 Presidential General Elections Historical Voter Turnout 2008: 81.2% 2012: 78.97% 2016: 77.11% 2020: 81.85% What to Expect in November Prediction: >82% Turnout Vote-by-Mail: 18% Early Voting: 49% Election Day: 33% WARNING: The ballot will be very long. BE PREPARED: Know what’s on your ballot, all sides, and know how you are voting BEFORE you vote. The first Saturday of early voting is the slowest day…may be your best day to vote early. The last Saturday of early voting is the busiest day. The DS200 tabulators may NOT count votes marked with an “X” Be sure to completely fill in the oval Do not mark beyond the lines of one oval and into another oval or it will be considered an over-vote and will NOT count. What happens if there is NO POWER at the polls or in the SOE Office during the elections? The elections and counting WILL GO ON! There are generators at each location. Reporting election night results There will be three waves of reports: Approx. 7:05 PM: All early voting results and Vote-by-mail ballots canvassed before 10/31 Approx. 8:00 PM: All election days precincts (each precinct calls in results Approx. 11:00 PM: Votes retrieved from the post office by 5:00 PM (must be postmarked by 7:00PM AND at the SOE office BY 7:00PM) |
Deb Boelkes
Business World Rising, LLC
1417 Sadler Road, Suite 207
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
