- April 29, 2024
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SCHOOL BOARD REFERENDUM
Percent, votes
YES 59.76% 41,148
NO 40.24% 27,711
DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Candidate, percent, votes
Charlie Crist 71.18% 20,254
Nan Rich 28.82% 8,202
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Candidate, percent, votes
Yinka Abosede Adeshina 1.8% 581
Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder 10.17% 3,274
Rick Scott 88.03% 28,345
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Candidate, percent, votes
George Sheldon (DEM) 61.14% 15,296
Perry Thurston (DEM) 38.86% 9,723
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 6
Candidate, percent, votes
Derek Hankerson (REP) 24.4% 1,705
John Thrasher (REP) 75.6% 5,284
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 18
Candidate, percent, votes
Karen Foxman 64.87% 43,887
Steve Sands 35.13% 23,766
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 20
Candidate, percent, votes
Stephen DeLaroche 25.4% 16,774
Adam Warren 29.92% 19,763
Kathy Weston 44.68% 29,509
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 23
Candidate, percent, votes
Kellie Jo Killebrew 54.96% 34,721
Thomas Portuallo 45.04% 28,455
COUNTY JUDGE GROUP 10
Candidate, percent, votes
Angela Dempsey 59.3% 39,522
Peter McGlashan 40.7% 27,122
COUNTY COUNCIL AT LARGE
Candidate, percent, votes
Webster Barnaby 32.37% 22,659
Joyce Cusack 35.05% 24,539
Patricia Northey 32.58% 22,812
‘The biggest problem is getting people to come out and vote’
Inside the library Tuesday morning before polls opened, Precinct Clerk Michelle Slinak, of Ormond Beach, and her three-person staff were getting ready for the voters.
“Issue the right ballot,” is the mantra for the workers, Slinak said. She said it’s the favorite phase of Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall, because it’s so important.
The workers carefully arranged the six ballots in their work area. There were a Republican, Democrat, and independent ballots, and two versions of each because two precincts were voting at the library.
Before a ballot is handed to a voter, it’s checked by two people to be sure it’s the right one, Slinak said.
Slinak said the early voting seemed normal at the Ormond Beach location, except it was very slow on Sunday. She suspects it was because early voting is normally Saturday to Saturday but Sunday was added this year, but she suspects the “word didn’t get out.”
One of her workers, Pat Wiegard, said she has been working at polling stations since 1975. She recalled a previous year when her job was to open the door for voters at a senior housing facility.
“I felt like I had gorilla arms,” she said.
Her co-worker, Claudia Archer, an Ormond Beach resident since 1956, said she enjoyed meeting people.
“The election workers are nice and really dedicated,” she said.
The election workers are paid and attend a class before each election.
They were also setting up a voting machine for the disabled, which can enlarge type for reading. If necessary, poll workers can read a ballot to a person, Slinak said.
Slinak said there were no problems in the early voting. Only one person was turned away, and that was because he had registered less than 29 days before the election.
“The biggest problem is getting people to come out and vote,” she said.
Outside the library, as the sun began to come up over the river, people started to arrive. There were no lines as of 8 a.m., but there was a steady flow of people in and out of the building. A few who talked to a reporter said that the sales tax extension for Volusia County Schools brought them out to the polls.
Treva Lewis said she was originally from Canada and has voted in every election for 45 years. She became a citizen when she was 15.
She said she’s frustrated at people who don’t vote.
“I tell them you have to be informed and vote,” she said.
Bill Hall said he disagreed with not allowing independent voters to vote for candidates in party races in the primaries.
“Independents get shut out,” he said. “I was just voting for the judges and the school tax.”
Sharan Mahannah left the pole with her absentee ballot in her hand. She missed the deadline for mailing, and attempted to drop it off at the library. However, she said she had to drop if off at the election office in DeLand for it to be counted.
“This procrastination has gotten me into more trouble,” she said.
She said she was going to deliver ballot because she believes in the importance of voting.
“There are many important things to be concerned about,” she said.
Ann Smith, a member of the League of Women Voters, said people should realize that every vote counts.
“It’s important to make your voice heard,” she said. “People have won an election by one vote.”
