BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Locals came out to let their voices be heard in the presidential preference primary election.
In spite of the COVID-19 outbreak, Bay County had 13 super voting sites available to residents. One voter expressed how glad they were that the voting sites were open despite Coronavirus concerns.
“I think it’s great that it’s open and everything went like clockwork. There was not a lot of people, they were maintaining distance between people. I didn’t feel concerned one bit,” explained Donald Redmon Jr., voter.
However, official turnout numbers indicate lowest voter turnout percentages since 2004. This year out of 90,154 active registered voters, official turnout percentages sit at 23.92%. In 2004 that number was 22.93% out of 89,992 voters.
Despite the current situation with the ongoing pandemic, Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen thanked all those involved in the voting process.
“I just want to thank the people that were doing the elections here. They stayed dedicated, they stayed involved, we cleaned, we did all the things, we worked our way through it and we couldn’t done it without the workers remaining dedicated,” noted Andersen.
Last year 46.09% of 86,299 voters cast their ballots, the 2020 federal general election is scheduled for November 3rd. Redmon Jr. stressed the importance of voting going forward.
“I just encourage everybody to get out and vote. It’s our civic responsibility to preserve the democracy that we believe in and that we have in this country,” said Redmon Jr.
