Update from Donna: Canvassing Board: Why your vote might not count

I know many of you have voted in Tuesday’s election and I congratulate you on your patriotic spirit.

This year I serve on the county Canvassing Board for the Supervisor of Elections Office, representing the Board of Commissioners.

The three-member board consists of the Elections Supervisor (one of our own Island residents, Jennifer Edwards), one judge and one commissioner. Our duty is to settle any concerns about the legality of a vote.

One of the first rejects are voters’ envelopes without a signature. It states clearly that a voter must sign (not print) the envelope. Some people print, some use return address labels, some don’t sign anything at all, some have someone else sign for them. None of these votes can be counted.

They are all rejected by the Canvassing Board according to state law. It just breaks my heart to see all those votes go to waste! Also, the signature must match the signature on file in the elections office. If your signature has changed, if you’ve been ill, had a stroke, changed your writing in any way, please fill out a new signature form. It’s easy enough to do. Just call the elections office at 774-8450 and request a new signature card. They’ll send it out, you sign it and send it back.

The Canvassing Board determines if questionable signatures match. Are the letters written in the same way, the same slant, the same curlicues, whatever we can identify that matches? Still there are so many that must be rejected.

Notes that say the wife is signing for the husband cannot be accepted. Only voter envelopes with signatures that match those on file can be accepted for voting.

For all those — and there are plenty — that are rejected, the elections office sends each and every voter a letter explaining why their vote wasn’t counted and what they need to do for the next election so it won’t happen again. A very personal touch indeed! 

New Restaurant

I’m sure many remember the old Shoney’s on the East Trail. Have you noticed a lot of movement on the property recently? It is about to become a Fitzgerald’s, an Irish pub type of seafood restaurant, similar to Pincher’s Crab Shack, but with an Irish flair. They have one restaurant in Bonita Springs and people say it’s a lot of fun and great food.

Have you eaten at Carrabba’s yet? It’s just great, but a little small. I was in there the second week after opening and was told by the assistant manager that this little restaurant had the third largest opening in their entire system nationwide! Guess we showed them they had been missing the boat by not building here sooner.

Road Problems

What with Marco, Isles of Capri, Fiddler’s Creek, Eagle Creek, Hammock Bay, Lely Resort, just to name a few, eager for a new restaurant, how could they miss? And more communities are coming on line as well. We will see Artesia soon, followed by Treviso Bay and then Sabal Bay.

This area will be so hot everyone will want to open an establishment. Of course there is one problem. With no capacity left on Collier Boulevard or U.S. 41, nothing can be approved. The county has what is known as concurrency, meaning the roadways have to be able to handle the new businesses or subdivisions before they are built, not after.

My goodness, Target and Lowe’s have been trying for over a year, but concurrency kicks in and they are refused. I understand, though, that an Outback Steakhouse is being built on the corner of Collier Boulevard and Davis Boulevard. I’m not sure how anyone can get in or out, but they were vested many years ago so they can move forward.

Collier Boulevard is becoming a treacherous road, to say the least, with all the traffic and vested properties still waiting to be built.

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Donna Fiala is Collier County District 1 commissioner. She can be reached by calling 774-8097, or e-mailing her at donnafiala@collier gov. net.