Election Day: Candidates Vote, Prepare for Results
HDTV Channel 19; November 7, 2006  by Holly Patterson

The race for Florida Governor is a close one that many voters are sure to keep their eyes on Tuesday night as results pour in.

Republican candidate Charlie Crist cast his vote Tuesday morning in St. Petersburg and mixed with many of his supporters. It was much of the same for his opponent, Democratic candidate Jim Davis, who campaigned for votes and voted himself in Tampa today.

Sources say the Crist camp is fairly confident, as polls show he is slightly ahead in the race. Crist was with Senator John McCain yesterday in Jacksonville.

Davis talked with voters today in Tampa, despite the stormy weather. He said voters need a change, and that the future of Florida is in their hands.

Another big race in Florida is the one for the senate seat currently held by Senator Bill Nelson.

On Tuesday, Nelson was doing some last minute campaigning in Orlando, where he will be tonight to watch the results. He is hoping to keep his chair from Republican candidate Katherine Harris.

Harris is confident she can unseat nelson, though recent polls show Nelson ahead.

Morning Polling Issues Fixed

Just hours into Election Day 2006, some polling places experienced problems, which made some local voters feel uncomfortable.

The problems started early in northwest Jacksonville, as many people left the polls worried their vote was not going to count.

When the Woodlawn Road precinct opened, the machine that counted the votes from ballots was not working. That meant voters had to put their ballots in a locked box to be counted at 7 p.m. when the polls close.

Elections officials say that is standard procedure, but that didn’t make voters more comfortable. At least one voter who had to go to work refused to leave until a machine was up and running.

The machine was fixed within a couple of hours, and according to the Supervisor of Elections, the northwest Jacksonville voters can be confident their vote will count. There is an audit procedure in place, so that the same numbers of people who come in to vote match the number of ballots in the box.

City Councilwoman Mia Jones, who also votes there, says a problem like this should never happen and she has concerns about how votes in that area are being handled.

If you have any questions or trouble voting, you can call the Supervisor of Elections help line at 630-1414.

You can also call our news room at 564-1599, and we'll help get to the bottom of any problems.