JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It has been a long day so far for folks at the Duval County Supervisor of Elections office. They spent the day making sure polling locations stayed efficient and then began counting ballots after those polls closed.
From setting up to voting to sorting to counting, Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland and his team have had little time to breathe. Election Day is always a bit hectic. But this time, even with a lengthy ballot, problems have been minor.
"That's our whole goal to answer those challenges and problems and get them fixed and keep voters voting and that's exactly what we did," said Holland.
A bigger issue though was folks waiting in line at the elections office downtown didn't all get a chance to hand in their absentee ballot. The cut off was 7 o'clock on the nose, unlike polling locations that will stay open late as long as the voter was in line in time.
"If you're in line and have an issued absentee ballot you're not going to be able to vote. It's just a difference in state law but we have to follow the law," Holland explained.
Representative Corrine Brown says that's definitely an issue that needs to be corrected.
"I don't understand if you can vote until 7 o'clock then why can't you turn in your absentees until 7 o'clock? The rules should be fair across the board," Brown said.
"A true misconception," Holland added. "I know the Congresswoman was very upset but the state law says our office is not a polling location. It's not a precinct. It can print absentee ballots but any absentee ballots must be returned by 7 o'clock."
Holland says several races, including the president's, will be close. He says they hate the word recount, but are ready for that. It is not cheap though. It's about $130,000 for each race. And it's not budgeted.
