JaxVotes – News4Jax’s Election Blog

Since my polling place had such a long wait, I decided to try another location. I went downtown to the Supervisor of Elections Office on East Monroe. The line there was just as long. SO, I hopped on I-95 and headed north to the Gateway Shopping Center on Norwood. There was no line, the workers were friendly and helpful and the best part – I got in and out in 20 minutes!!
Vote Early!!

Canvassing board continues to look at absentee ballots   .. 1600 in question.. So far  500 ballots rejected.    Most for no signatures  others because they do not match.     The board will met though the weekend and Monday  and  Tuesday…  Democrat and Republican attorneys are also on hand.. Later today we will hear from one voter upset because her ballet has been rejected.

I just went to vote – Oh My Gosh. The line was out the door, more than 100 people in the line, the wait is over an hour.
I went to my polling place, which also happens to be an early voting site. It’s the public library on Deerwood Park.
All I can say is, if it’s this bad now, it’s going to be worse on election day. Don’t let the long lines discourage you from casting your ballot. Go early and prepare to wait in line!

“Barack Obama can win the White House next Tuesday over John McCain without carrying Florida and its 27 votes but it has become increasingly clear that the Democratic nominee and his campaign see the Sunshine State as a critical symbolic victory given the state’s history in presidential politics over the last eight years.”

That’s Chris Cillizza writing on the blog on the front page of Thursday’s Washington Post.

Pundits say Florida is learning toward Obama, but that it’s still too close to call.

Real Clear Politics averages several of the best-regarded polls and portrays on a graph how they’ve changed over the past several months.  It’s not a pretty picture for Republicans.

Take a look.

I voted this afternoon at Regency Library at 4:30. There was a line wrapped around the building. Poll workers said about 1400 people are voting there a day. The line moved quickly, I would say the entire process took less than an hour and I’m glad I stayed and didn’t put it off until tomorrow. It was also interesting to hear people talk about their decisions and how some were even undecided until this week. We can say for sure this election has brought many people together, getting them talking regardless if they agree or not. A healthy debate never hurts. I’m hoping that we won’t forget this energy after Tuesday.

Canvassing board has rejected about 200 more absentee ballots. Voters did not sign enevelops. Also they remade about 80 ballot because people voted for more than one candidate. That race would not count but the ballot was remade to accept the races which were correct.

By Thursday morning, 1,670,475 Floridians have voted early in the general election and hundreds of thousands of others have submitted absentee ballots.

In Duval County, 116,482 voters cast ballots in the first 10 days of early voting and 42,111 absentee ballots were received.

For Jacksonville, that means 29.6 percent of registered voters have already voted — a better turnout than the total who vote in most elections — and Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland expects the number to reach 40 percent by Sunday night, when early voting ends.

Weeks ago, Holland predicted total turnout for this election to reach 85 percent, with lines up to 2 hours at the polls on Nov. 4.  Given the record turnout for early voting, that prediction is looking pretty sound.

Fun fact: The busiest early-voting site in Jacksonville so far: the Regency Square Branch Library.

In Tampa on Wednesday, Sen John McCain sat down for an interview that would air on “Larry King Live.”  McCain said race will play virtually no role in how voters will cast their ballots for president.

McCain said people will vote “for the best of reasons, not the worst of reasons.”

We know Florida Senator Bill Nelson has ridden on the space shuttle and, as perhaps Florida’s leading Democrat, supports Sen. Barack Obama for president.

This week, another famous passenger on the shuttle with no obvious political leanings — Sally Ride, the first American woman in space — endorsed the Illinois senator’s campaign for the White House.

Read more: http://www.spacepolitics.com