Voters Indifferent On Primary Day

There's an old joke that explains the mood of the electorate Tuesday:

What's the difference between ignorance and apathy? Nobody knows and nobody cares.

The turnout was light Tuesday for the primary. By 4 p.m., said Norma Stokes, assistant supervisor of elections, only 4,887 registered voters had cast their ballots. That's 7.6 percent of the registered voters.

"It's terrible," she said.

At noon, Sebring Police Chief Tom Dettman was surprised he was voter No. 140 at Sebring Masonic Lodge.

"I really don't know why," said Joyce Sirois, who had just emerged from the Restoration Center in southwest Sebring.

"There were no major issues on the ballot," was Ed Wilson's explanation.

At the Masonic Lodge, Mike Cummins agreed. "There aren't any tax issues."

In other words, there was no harmful candidate and no dangerous matters to vote against.

Democrats could choose between incumbent Susan Benton and Avon Park Commander Mike Rowan in the sheriff's race, and either Jeri Canale or Bruce Borkosky in the District 3 county commission race.

The Republicans had two races too: incumbent Andrew Jackson or challenger Jeff Carlson in the county commission race, and Gayle Harrell, Tom Rooney or Hal Valeche in the congressional race. All three congressional candidates are from the Palm Beach area.

For voters of both parties and the non-partisans, there were the two district judge candidates, John Radabaugh and Nathaniel White.

"Who are they?" asked Cummins, who didn't think he'd ever seen the names of the judges before.

But at Masonic hall, there was, at least, a spirit of camaraderie between two rivals.

"We're sharing water and ant spray," said Ahn McQueen, who was holding an Andrew Jackson sign. Beside her, on the corner of Home Avenue and Sebring Parkway, was Anna McNeil, holding a Jeff Carlson sign.

Does it really help the commission candidates to wave those signs at traffic?

"Absolutely," said McNeil. "A lot of people don't realize there is an election today. So we refresh their memory."

Election officials expected results to come in faster Tuesday evening.

"They're going to be modeming them in from each precinct," said Stokes. "If it goes smoothly, we'll have unofficial results by 7:30 p.m."

That's hours earlier than the election two years ago.

Each optical scanner will be connected to a phone line after the polls close, Stokes said. The scanner will download its results, and they will be posted at www.heartlineweb.org/elections.