Q: Several months removed from last November’s election, can you share some analysis and statistics from St. Johns County?
A: The first thing that struck me was that so many voters cast ballots ahead of Election Day — only 15 percent of our voters went to the polls on Election Day to cast their ballots. We had a very smooth Election Day even though eight precincts still had more than 1,000 voters processed. We had the third highest voter turnout in the state with 85 percent of our registered voters casting ballots.
Q: Do you have a breakdown of how votes were cast?
A: Via Vote by Mail, we had 74,972 ballots requested and mailed to voters; 57,676 ballots were voted and returned to us (33 percent of the total). We had 13 days of Early Voting in 10 locations in the county; 338 poll workers were needed and 93,261 voters cast ballots (52 percent of the total). On Election Day, 39 polling locations with 438 poll workers were in place so that 26,730 voters could cast ballots (15 percent of the total).
Q: Why do you think voting in St. Johns County went so well, even in the midst of the pandemic?
A: There are a number of reasons that I think Florida got it right:
Florida law allows a Vote By Mail ballot to be mailed to a voter upon request;
Florida law allows processing of Vote by Mail ballots prior to Election Day. Our Canvassing Board, which counts these ballots, began meeting weekly or sometimes twice a week on Oct. 9;
We require signature verification on every Vote By Mail ballot;
Early voting was very convenient;
Voter ID is required when voting in person;
We utilize ePollbooks, which makes an automatic update in a voter’s record when a ballot is cast (either by mail or in person). This prevents a voter from voting twice;Party poll watchers are allowed to observe the conduct of the election at the precincts during Early Voting and Election Day;
Our Canvassing Board processes are open to the public; anyone can attend and observe our processes;
Our elections are open and transparent — and have been for years.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Readers can email me at voakes@votesjc.com or call me at (904) 823-2238. Our website, www.votesjc.com also has a wealth of information.
