High voter turnout expected in 2004 general election

Don't expect that to happen next year.

Residents of Lely Community Development District and the Naples Heritage Community Development District went to the polls to elect members of their district boards. They were the only races in Collier County and only 1,352 people voted.

It is probably safe to say there will be more people voting next year in the general election on Nov. 2. Each registered voter in the county will be eligible to go to the polls to elect a President, a U.S. senator, a Florida Congressman, a state representative and a state senator.

Depending on where you live in Collier County, you might be voting for one of three Collier County Commission seats or one of two School Board seats.

Registered voters in the county will be eligible to vote for sheriff, clerk of courts, tax collector, property appraiser and supervisor of elections.

It's possible some of these contests won't get to the November ballot because they will be settled in the primary, if only a couple of people from one party run. It's also possible that some candidates will run unopposed, which means they will be declared the winner and their name won't be on the ballot.

But with a presidential election coming up, county officials expect voter turnout to be high next November.

Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards knows the race next year will be a big one, but she professes to be unconcerned.

"I'm very confident that we'll have a smooth election in 2004," Edwards said.

Gary Beauchamp, assistant supervisor of elections, said the goal of any election is to have it appear effortless to the people voting.

"We try to make it easy for them," Beauchamp said. "We want people to have an easy experience when they go into the voting booth."

Since taking over as supervisor of elections in 2000, Edwards has had to deal with two difficult elections.

In 2000, Edwards and every other elections supervisor in Florida found themselves caught up in the Florida recount when George Bush narrowly defeated Al Gore. Collier County wasn't a focal point of that election, but all the ballots cast in Collier still had to be recounted by a canvassing board.

The 2002 general election results weren't decided until the next day because some of the new touch screen voting machines malfunctioned in Collier County.

Edwards said she is confident the 2004 election will go more smoothly because elections workers have a better understanding of how the new voting machines work.

"In 2002 with the election reform laws we were required to select a new system, implement the system, train voters and train our poll workers," Edwards said. "We had to rely on our vendor to explain to us how the system worked."

When the malfunction occurred, the county needed the vendor, Election Systems & Software Inc., to help out.

"We had to get in line with all the other customers they had throughout the nation," Edwards said. "Now our workers have been trained by the company and they know what to do."

She is also taking steps to have employees of Elections Systems and Software on site for future elections. They weren't in Collier County last November.

The county will also have several smaller elections before the big one. The city of Naples holds its elections in February, the presidential preference primary and Marco city elections are in March, and the Florida primary is in August.

Edwards said an elections guide letting everyone know when each election is occurring will soon be in every post office in the county. The Supervisor of Elections Web site is also being updated to provide more information to voters.

"You'll be able to type in your address and be provided with your voting precinct location," Edwards said. "You can then go on Mapquest and get directions on how to get to the polling place."

The county is also getting practice by helping out with elections for homecoming king and queen for a few schools and helping out with elementary school student council elections.

"We did the homecoming king and queen at Naples High School this year," Edwards said. "It's helpful because it shows young people how to vote before they take part in their first election."