Jacksonville FL — Thursday, early voting gets underway in Clay and St. Johns counties ahead of the Florida primary in a few weeks. In Clay County, early voting sites will be open from 8AM until 6PM through August 15th. This primary will feature a new early voting option within the county. Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless says the new early voting site at Thrasher-Horne Conference Center will be online for the first time as an early voting site.
“One of the things that our data was showing was that individuals that lived on Blanding Boulevard were kind of under supported, that they would either have to go down Blanding to the Middleburg Civic Center or they would have to go over to the Orange Park Library at Park Avenue.” Chambless says.
With the pandemic ongoing, and the extra safety measures in place at voting locations Chambless says you should pack your patience when you go to vote.
“I think that, that with social distancing and with cleaning those hard surfaces, it is going to add time to the process.” Chambless says.
He says bringing your filled out sample ballot with you can help to make the voting process quicker.
Voting turnout is also going to be impacted in Clay County by coronavirus, it’s just unclear to what extent the virus will play on turnout. Chambless says he’s hoping that it won’t be impacted that much.
“I just want to encourage everybody to not allow their fears or concerns over this pandemic to keep them from coming to either an early voting site or on election day.” Chambless says.
He is expecting turnout to be somewhere in the 25% range. He says over the last 40 years turnout is usually between 17% to 30% for presidential elections.
Full list of early voting sites:
- Orange Park Library – 2054 Plainfield Ave. Orange Park, FL 32073
- Fleming Island Library – 1895 Town Center Blvd. Fleming Island, FL 32003
- Supervisor of Elections Office – 500 N Orange Ave. Green Cove Springs, Fl 32043
- Middleburg Civic Center – 2102 Palmetto St. Middleburg, FL 32068
- Keystone Heights City Hall – 555 S Lawrence Blvd. Keystone Heights, FL 32656
- Eagle Landing Residents Club – 3975 Eagle Landing Pkwy. Orange Park, FL 32065
- Thrasher-Horne Conf Center – 283 College Dr. Orange Park, FL 32065
Early voting also begins Thursday in St. Johns County. This election will have two new early voting sites in the county giving St. Johns County voters a total of eight sites. The two new sites will be at the St. Johns Convention Center at World Golf Village and at the Shoppes of St. Johns. Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes says seven of the eight early voting locations are under county or city management and that means a face covering is required.
“However, I just want to let our voters know, no voter will be turned away simple because they do not have a face covering.” Oakes says.
The only early voting site that isn’t under city or county management is going to be the one at the Shoppes of St. Johns off St. Johns Parkway and C.R. 210. She says there will be clean pens and the locations will be sanitized regularly to prevent the spread of the virus. Pole workers will be using face shields, masks, gloves and using hand sanitizer regularly.
She is hoping to see a little more than 30% turnout for the primary. She says by the end of this week the county will have put 50,000 vote-by-mail ballots in the mail for the primary election, which is a new record for the election. Early voting runs from August 6th through the 15th from 9AM until 6PM at all locations.
Full list of locations:
- St. Johns Convention Center at World Golf Village - 500 S. Legacy Trail St. Augustine, FL 32092
- Shoppes of St Johns (Old Earth Fare Location) - 120 Shops Blvd St Johns, FL 32259
- Supervisor of Elections Office - 4455 Avenue A #101 St. Augustine, FL. 32095
- Julington Creek Annex - Conference Room (St. Johns County Service Center) 725 Flora Branch Boulevard Saint Johns, FL. 32259
- Ponte Vedra Branch Library - 101 Library Boulevard Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. 32082
- Southeast Branch Library - 6670 US 1 South St. Augustine, FL. 32086
- St. Augustine Beach City Hall - 2200 A1A South St. Augustine, FL. 32080
- Hasting Branch Library - 6195 S. Main Street Hastings, FL. 32145
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