Citizens Take Advantage of Early Voting at Library

Nancy Tyson made sure she grabbed an “I Voted” sticker as she left the Monday afternoon, the first day of .

“I’m glad I get to wear this for a long time,” she said.

The library is one of 15 polling places open across the county for early voting, which runs through Aug. 11. Unlike voting on Election Day, early voting allows eligible voters to cast their ballot at any of these sites. At the library, voting takes place Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Anyone in line before 6 p.m. will be allowed to finish voting before closing that night.

Levi Carter, a Supervisor of Elections clerk overseeing operations at the Temple Terrace Library, said by 4 p.m. Monday, 100 people had voted—a low number in his opinion. But he pointed out that this is a primary, not a general election, and it was only the first day the polls had been open.

“We’ve got to get it going,” he said.

According to Travis Abercrombie, public information coordinator for the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office, 1,256 early votes were cast countywide Monday, and 135 of those came from the library.

Temple Terrace resident said she had planned to take advantage of early voting. She happened to be at the library Monday and zipped in and out of the voting room while there was no line.

“It was convenient, and there were lots of nice volunteers,” she said as mayoral candidate  passed by with a stack of books in her arms and her grandson in tow.

Donohue said she also plans on voting early but literally hand her hands full Monday and would have to come back another time.

Mayoral and City Council candidates aren’t on the early voting ballot, but county and state races do appear. In a Florida Primary Election, only voters who are registered with a political party can vote for their party’s candidates. However, all registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in nonpartisan races (such as for School Board and Judicial candidates), contests in which all candidates have the same political affiliation, and races in which the winner of the primary election will not have any opposition in the general (such Hillsborough County Commissioner, District 2 and House District 61).

To see your party’s sample ballot, visit the Supervisor of Elections Office online. Sample ballots include the races from all districts, so they won’t be the exact ballots you’ll see when you go to the polls.

Tyson, who lives just outside of the Temple Terrace city limits, came prepared. Not only did she bring a valid photo and signature identification (accepted examples include a current Florida driver license, Florid ID Card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, U.S. Passport, debit or credit card, military ID, student ID, retirement center ID, neighborhood association ID or public assistance ID), she also knew for whom she was voting.

“I researched every race,” she said.

“I really like voting,” she added, “so I wanted to do it as soon as possible.”