Though Florida politicians have so far spent inordinate amounts of money on their respective campaigns, voter turnout for the 2010 primary elections has been dismal in Duval County, which comprises most of Jacksonville.
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland posted on Facebook that only 4.5 percent of registered voters had cast an early ballot and that even on election day, the results weren’t much better:
Primary day very slow, less than 10,000 have gone to the polls prior to 10:00am. That brings our over all turnout to 10 percent so far. (22,000 absentee voters and 15,878 voted at early voting sites).
Despite the slow turnout, Republican gubernatorial candidates and primary opponents Rick Scott and Bill McCollum made last-ditch efforts to entice Jacksonville voters.
Scott, flanked by his wife and state Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, stopped by a polling site at Pablo Creek library to wave at passing cars and visit supporters that held “Gators for Scott” and “Vote for Rick Scott” signs.
McCollum also made a stop at a Jacksonville polling station, waving signs with supporters at around 3 in the afternoon. The race is sure to be a close one: Two different polls, by Public Policy polling and Quinnipiac University, show both McCollum and Scott to be ahead.
