Monitor Editor
GREEN COVE SPRINGS— The Clay County Supervisor of Elections recently declared that when Clay County residents are disappointed in their government officials, they have no one to blame but themselves.
“Sometimes we have to be honest;” Chris Chambless wrote in a news release, “maybe it is not them, but we the people. Remember, good government never goes out of style.”
Chambless complained that based on prior elections, voter turnout for the 2022 primary will likely not exceed 80% in the county, meaning that 32,000 Clay voters probably will not vote in the Aug. 24 primary, headlined by the governor’s race.
“Why will they not vote?” he asked. “I have heard many reasons, and most of them boil down to ‘convenience’.”
The supervisor listed the most common excuses he has heard for skipping elections, including difficulty in registering, an inability to get to the polls, inadequate information about candidates and a lack of personal identification necessary to cast a ballot.
“At no other time in history, has voter registration been more convenient and accessible,” he said.
Chambless added that with 10 days of nine-hours-a-day early voting and with voting -by-mail available, the excuse of not being able to get to the polls rings hollow.
“When reviewing the options available to all voters, I do not think voter access is the problem,” he wrote.
Chambless also wrote that individual candidate information is available on his own website, as well as at public libraries.
“It is hard to not be an informed voter if one has that desire,” he added. “Lack of information is not the problem.”
Chambless said that in addition to driver licenses and identification cards issued by the state, his office accepts 10 additional forms of voter ID, including debit and credit cards. He also said that people without proper ID can still vote.
“If you do not bring proper ID, you can still vote using a provisional ballot,” he wrote. “As long as you are eligible and voted in the proper precinct, your provisional ballot will count, provided the signature on your provisional ballot matches the signature in your registration record. Access to proper identification is not the problem.”
Chambless
