Elections Preparations in Charlotte County

DAVIS, THANK YOU. MEANTIME, FOR VOTERS IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY VOTE BY MAIL, BALLOTS ARE ARRIVING IN HOUSEHOLDS ALL ACROSS THE AREA. AND ONE OF THE MAIN DECISIONS FOR VOTERS WILL BE AN EXTENSION OF THE LOCAL OPTION. SALES TAX. CHARLOTTE COUNTY RESIDENTS HAVE ALREADY RENEWED THE TAX 6 PREVIOUS TIMES. BUT THIS YEAR VOTERS WILL LOOK TO MAINTAIN A ONE PERCENT OPTION SALES TAX FOR 20 YEARS. HE'S JUST ONE OF MANY DECISIONS. CHARLOTTE COUNTY VOTERS WILL MAKE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION. >> I'M JOINED BY LEE OF A LENGHTY CHARLOTTE COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY FROM GORDA. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. >> VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS HAVE ALL BEEN SENT OUT TO YOUR COUNTY. HAD A DRAMATIC DROP OFF IN THE ABOUT A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT REQUESTS. I UNDERSTAND THERE WERE JUST 28,000 SO FAR THIS YEAR COMPARED TO ALMOST 50,002 YEARS AGO. WHAT EXPLAINS THIS DECLINE? >> SO WE'RE SEEING A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPTICK RIGHT NOW WITH OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PUSH US AND IT OUT. MEDIA LIKE THIS. IT REALLY IMPLORING PEOPLE TO GET THEIR VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST. AND SO WE'VE SEEN A SLIGHT UPTICK, BUT WE ARE STILL DOWN ABOUT 12, 13,000 FROM THIS EXACT TIME LAST OUR 2024, I THINK THE PEOPLE LISTENING TO MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION AND BELIEVING, YOU KNOW, IF THEY HEAR INSTEAD OF CALLING A TRUSTED SOURCE, WHICH IS THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS TO UNDERSTAND THAT VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST STILL WOULD HAVE GONE OUT DURING OUR INITIAL DOMESTIC DROP WHICH WAS AT SEPTEMBER 24TH. AND NOW THAT PEOPLE ARE SEEING THEIR NEIGHBORS AND THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE GETTING THEM I THINK THAT'S WHY WE'RE SEEING THE UPTICK. BUT I I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT VOTE BY MAIL WASN'T GOING TO BE ONE OF THE 3 WAYS THAT THEY COULD VOTE IN FLORIDA BECAUSE OF RECENT NEWS STORIES WITH THE SUPREME COURT. >> HOW DOES THAT CHANGE IMPACT IN PERSON? EARLY VOTING AND ELECTION DAY? >> WE ALWAYS PLAN FOR A HIGH VOLUME AS SUPERVISORS OF ELECTIONS. WE WHITE MAXIMUM PARTICIPATION. SO IT WAS PLANNED FOR IT. BUT WE TRY TO MITIGATE AND HAVING 3 WAYS TO VOTE AND ALLOWS FOR ESPECIALLY OUR AND FOLKS THAT MAYBE NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE OF ASSISTANCE AT THE POLLS. WE DON'T WANT THEM WAITING IN LINES AND POTENTIAL LINE. SO THAT'S WHY VOTE BY MAIL IS SUCH A WONDERFUL OPTION. AND ALSO OUR STUDENTS THAT HAVE ALREADY GONE OFF TO SCHOOL. WE WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE VOTING. BUT WE HAVE PLANS JUST IN CASE WE DON'T SEE AND THE VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST RETURN BACK TO WHAT THEY WERE IN 2024, AS YOU STATED, 49,000 WERE SENT OUT. RIGHT NOW WE'RE HOVERING ABOUT 31,000 THAT HAVE BEEN SENT OUT. SO WE'RE TRYING TO PREPARE. WE HAVE ADDED ONE MORE EARLY VOTING SITE. SO FROM 2024 TO NOW HOPING TO MITIGATE THERE BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT LONG LINES. WE DON'T HAVE TO. >> IF SOMEONE STILL WANTS TO REQUEST A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT, IT'S NOT TOO LATE. CORRECT? >> THAT IS CORRECT. SO EVERY DAY WE'RE GETTING VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST. AS I SAID, AND WE MAIL THEM OUT DAILY. SO AT TODAY WE GET THAT ABOUT 400 VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST WILL GO OUT TOMORROW. SO I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO THINK THAT IF THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN THEIR REQUEST AND THEY CANNOT THEY HAVE UNTIL OCTOBER 22ND AT 05:00PM THEY CAN ABSOLUTELY GO ONLINE. THEY CAN CALL OUR OFFICE OR STOP BY ANYONE OF OUR OFFICE LOCATIONS TO GET THEIR VOTE BY MAIL REQUEST. AND AGAIN, THAT'S OCTOBER 22ND AT 05:00PM. >> THEIR CHARLOTTE COUNTY VOTERS WILL VOTE. >> ON A 20 YEAR EXTENSION ON THE LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX. >> ARE YOU SEEING INCREASED INTEREST IN THE UPCOMING MIDTERMS BECAUSE OF THIS? >> I THINK ALL THE WE HAVE 3 COUNTY REFERENDUMS AND WE ALSO OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE 3 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. SO I THINK THAT IS ALWAYS GOING TO MAKE FOLKS VOTE THAT MAYBE DON'T CARE SO MUCH ABOUT A BALLOT. BUT I THINK THAT THE REFERENDUMS AND AMENDMENTS AFFECTS PEOPLE'S POCKETBOOKS. SO, YES, I DO THINK WE WILL SEE A SLIGHT VOTER UPTICK IN TERMS OF SHOW OUT, SHOW UP. I THINK THAT IT'S GOING TO BE I THINK TURNOUT WILL SEE CLOSE TO 70%. THAT WOULD BE GREAT. SULLY. >> NOW, VOTER REGISTRATION ENDED ON OCTOBER 5TH. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER DATES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE VOTERS TO BE AWARE OF? >> SO OCTOBER FASHION IS THE VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE CLOSING AND OUR EARLY VOTING AND CHARLOTTE COUNTY IS OCTOBER 19, 2, THE 31ST AND OUR POLLS ARE OPEN. 07:00AM TO 07:00PM AT 4 LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY IN ENGLEWOOD, 2 IN PORT CHARLOTTE AND GORDA. AND OF COURSE, ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 3RD, THE POLLS ARE OPEN. 07:00AM TO 07:00PM. AND WE WANT TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS BRING IN THEY'RE FILLED OUT SAMPLE BALLOT AND BRING THEIR PHOTO SIGNATURE ID TO THE POLLS. AND THAT STREAMLINES THE PROCESS FOR EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY HAVING A FILLED OUT SAMPLE BALLOT. YOU CAN GET IN AND OUT. AND ALSO OUR SAMPLE BALLOTS AS WHERE TO VOTE JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO VOTE ON ELECTION DAY. IT'S WRITTEN RIGHT ON. >> ALL RIGHT. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE FOR THE RESIDENTS OF COLLIER COUNTY AND CHARLOTTE COUNTY AND LEE COUNTY CAUSE. I KNOW THE DATES ARE KIND OF ALL THE SAME THAT WE HAVE COMING UP. >> UPDATE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION. GO ON OUR SO WE CHARLOTTE COUNTY FL DOT GOV OR CALL THE OFFICE AND MAKE SURE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION IS UP TO DATE AND ACCURATE SO THAT WE WILL HAVE THE MOST STREAMLINED VOTING EXPERIENCE ON ELECTION DAY AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE. DON'T SIT ON THE SIDELINES OF THESE LANDMARK ELECTIONS. IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT IT, GET OUT AND VOTE. THAT'S WHY FLORIDA HAS 3 WAYS TO VOTE BY MAIL IN-PERSON EARLY VOTING OR ON ELECTION DAY. IT'S IMPORTANT TO EXERCISE THAT RIGHT. >> ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. WE HAVE A LENGHTY SUPERVISOR OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY ELECTIONS. IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE. THANK YOU FOR