By Richard Tomlinson
Maureen "Mo" Baird did an excellent job with her first primary election. As a Poll Worker, I saw first-hand that she followed all protocol. . All voters were checked for proper picture ID and signature. Voters needing assistance must have a registered "helper" or were assigned two opposing party poll workers to help. The DS-200 scanned each ballot in the voter's presence to ensure it was marked appropriately.
Canvassing of mail-in ballots were checked by two opposite party poll workers to ensure they were properly marked. If incorrectly marked, two opposite party poll workers would correct the ballot with the voter's choices. The computers to check in voters recorded if a voter had been sent a mail-in ballot or already voted to allow one vote-one voice. Mail-in Ballot box were monitored at the polls by two opposing party poll workers. Every step of the process was rechecked. "Mo" Baird proved that the Citrus County election process is fair and honest. She was actively involved with registering new voters and updating voter rolls by removing voters who were now deceased or had moved.
Sadly 70% of voters stayed home. Two voters mentioned that family members were not voting as the system was "rigged". She had seen a video where people could change votes on the "voting machine" from home. Granted no system is perfect but one should not use this as a reason not to vote. System administrators use remote-access software to access and control computers remotely over the internet or over an organization’s internal network. Not every U.S. system would be hacked. We still need to vote.
Others felt it was not a "major" election. Not voting in the Primary can mean your party has a weaker candidate to go against a much stronger opposition party candidate for the general election. Local elections really matter as local government decisions more strongly affect our lives.
We may be a small county but we can have a larger voice in the decisions and the path for Florida's future if we all show up to vote. We have several convenient ways to vote: mail-in ballots, early voting, and election day. Early voting will be October 28-November 5. Election day is November 8th. If you have never voted, you can register on-line by October 11th. Let's show Florida that little Citrus has a lion's roar on election day. Please vote and no excuses.