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Highlands Today

Highlands Chose Clinton, Romney

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

From left: Norma Stokes and Joe Campbell use an automated envelope opener so that the canvassing board can open absentee ballots on Tuesday.

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: January 30, 2008

SEBRING — A record number of Floridians went to the polls Tuesday to vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries, and to OK a property tax. But even more may have showed up if the national Democratic and Republican parties had said they would seat the Florida delegations at the national conventions this summer.

"I think it's a very misunderstood situation," said Justine Devlin, chair of the Highlands County Republican Party.

"I know we had a good turnout," she said, but citizens who didn't vote should have ignored the national chairs of the Republican National Party and the Democratic National Party, who have vowed not to seat the Florida delegation because the state Legislature moved to primary to January, too close to the four early primary and caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

RNC Chair Robert "Mike" Duncan and DNC Chairman Howard Dean run the parties for now, Devlin reasoned, but if the nominees decide this summer they want to seat the Florida delegations, they will be seated, she predicted.

"They cut their noses off and spite their faces," she said of the national party chairman. "People have died, and shed their blood for our right to vote."

"More than 1.7 million of us showed up to the polls and made our voices heard," said Karen Thurman, chair of the state Democratic Party. "That's more than the number of Democrats who voted for any Democratic primary for anything in Florida history. That's more than the number of people who voted in the early state contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, combined. That's more than the entire population of New Hampshire."

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
Republicans
CANDIDATE HIGHLANDS VOTES
Rudy Giuliani 1,355
Mike Huckabee 1,945
Duncan Hunter 15
Alan Keyes 21
John McCain 4,889
Ron Paul 247
Mitt Romney 4,905
Tom Tancedo 7
Fred Thompson 161

Democrats
CANDIDATE HIGHLANDS VOTES
Joe Biden 100
Hillary Clinton 4,972
Chris Dodd 35
John Edwards 1,898
Mike Gravel 27
D. Kucinich 41
Barack Obama 2,055
Bill Richardson 98

AMENDMENT ONE
HIGHLANDS
Yes 15,151
No 9,839
FLORIDA
Yes 2,630,002
No 1,475,355

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