Cedar Key News - CK COMMISSION 2019 ELECTION ...WELL HANDLED

The May 7, 2019, City of Cedar Key Commissioner Election in Cedar Key involved a host of hard-working, conscientious folks, all familiar to those who live here. Polls were open from 7 am until 7 pm; however, much work went on before the polls were opened and after the polls were closed. A minimum of a 14-hour day was smilingly and pleasantly delivered by all.

Cedar Key Police Department Officer Neal Polimeni performed the welcome and the exit ritual at the door to City Hall, awarding an “I Voted!” sticker to each exiting voter. City Clerk Nicole Gill orchestrated teams of workers. One team included her staff of Assistant City Clerk Crystal Sharp and Staffer Telicia Winfield, both of whom handed voters ballots, in addition to many other duties. Gill’s second team included volunteers Pam Alexander, Brenda Coulter, and Patty Jett who checked identification as voters entered on Tuesday to vote. Gill also assisted by Levy County Supervison of Elelction, Tammy Jones, Canvassing Board members, Levy Judge Robert Browning, Levy County Commission Chair John Meeks, and Levy School Board Member Chris Cowart, with their needs.

At 7 pm, City Hall doors were opened to the public. In filed audience members including the Cedar Key Beacon’s Suzette Cook, Cedar Key News staff, Mac and Nita Cox, Jim Wortham, Sam Gibbs, Bill and Nickie Rucker, and Norm and Janice Fugate.

Before the Canvassing Board handled them, signatures on mail-in ballots were reviewed and verified by Clerk Gill and her staff. As voters request mail-in ballots in person, they are asked to sign the Supervisor of Elections’ official book; then signatures are compared and verified. When they are returned, that date is noted. Then the returned ballot is placed in a locked wooden box.

The Canvassing Board members addressed the audience, explained the canvassing process, and assigned themselves the tasks necessary for the chore at hand: Browning slit the mail-in ballot envelopes open; Meeks opened the envelopes; Cowart separated the ballots from their secrecy envelopes. No provisional ballots were cast. Five “undervotes,” ballots that contained no marks/no votes for a candidate, were cast. Seventy-eight mail-in ballots were cast. Voter turnout in 2019, 47.3%. Voter turnout in 2017 was 32%.