Standing, Ramona Dewees, left to right, Emogene Box, Patricia Lynch, Jenna Box, Deidre Oliver, Dot Green, Bobbie Lahmon and Janice Parrish.
BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
It’s election season in Union County, as well as in the rest of the country, and Supervisor of Elections Deborah Osborne and her staff are ready for a busy time between now and early November, with registrations, candidate qualifying, early voting, vote by mail, and a total of four election events.
Early voting for the first of these events, the Presidential Preference Primary, has already begun (on Mar. 9, 2024) and will run through Mar. 16, 2024. The deadline for requesting a vote by mail ballot has passed (on Mar.7, 2024), but ballots can still be picked up at the Union County Elections office. Vote by mail ballots must be delivered to the office no later than 7 p.m. on the day of the PPP election, Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2024. There is no longer an outside drop box for these ballots, and they must be brought inside and placed in a secure ballot intake station.
The PPP election is open only to those voters registered as Republicans, as there are no candidates running against the incumbent in the Democratic Party. The ballot is printed when certified by the State. In Florida, if a candidate withdraws, he or she must do so officially by Dec. 11, which most, if not all the candidates did not do. So, there will be seven names to select from on the ballot, but the only votes that will be counted are for those who remained in the race after that date. Canvasing of the ballots will occur with Osborne, the Honorable Judge Mitchell Bishop and the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, Channing Dobbs.
The location of the polling places for the PPP, the Primary Election (Aug. 20) and the General Election (Nov. 5) are the same. The Lake Butler City Election has only a single polling place (see below).
Precincts 1A, 1B, 5A, and 5C will vote at the Lake Butler Community Center. Precincts 2A and 2B will vote at the Raiford Community Center. Precincts 3A and 3B will vote at the Worthington Springs Community Center. Precincts 3C, 4A and 4C will vote at the SREC Building on 6th Ave. in Lake Butler. Precinct 4B will vote at the Providence Community Center and Precinct 5B will vote at the Palestine Fire Station.
All voters should remember to bring a photo/signature ID with them to the polling place.
City election
The next election event in the county will be the Lake Butler City Election on June 25, 2024. There will only be a single polling place for this election, the Lake Butler Community Center at the lake. City Commission Seats 1 and 2 are up for election, with incumbents David Stegall (Seat 1) and Rondoll Huggins (Seat 2) facing whoever chooses to run against them. Qualifying for the city election begins at noon on April 15 and ends at noon on April 19.
August Primary
The Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, Aug.20, and will be a larger ballot. The ballot will include candidates for three of the five seats on the Union County Commission, all of the county constitutional officers, two school board seats, U.S. Congress Dist.3, the State House and Senate, the State Attorney, and the Circuit 8 judicial race. Also on the ballot will be the renewal of the Union County Public Library referendum.
Seats up for election/re-election on the Union County Board of Commissioner are Seat 1 (currently held by Donna Jackson), Seat 3 (currently held by Jimmy Tallman who has stated that he will not run again) and Seat 5 (currently held by Willie Croft). So far, interest has been shown in only one of these seats, Seat 3, with three candidates having already filed. They are: Chad Ali, Ed Rainey and Shelton Arnold. Constitutional offices up for election include the sheriff, the tax collector, the property appraiser, the clerk of court, the superintendent of schools, and the supervisor of elections. Union County School Board races are for Seat 2 (currently held by Russell Gordon and Seat 4 (currently held by Becky Raulerson).
General Election
The last election event of the year will be the General Election on Nov. 5, 2024. It will include the presidential race as well as any run-offs resulting from the primary and also any proposed amendments to the state constitution. While not finalized yet, the amendments as it stands now will be for the adult personal use of marijuana, the limiting of government interference with abortion, establishing a requirement that future school board elections be conducted as partisan elections and the right to fish and hunt. The Times will provide more details on these proposed amendments as the information becomes available.
It should prove to be a busy election year for everyone, with many decisions to make. The Union County Supervisor of Elections said she hopes all eligible voters in the county will come out and cast their ballots, exercising their most fundamental constitutional right.
“My poll workers, office workers and canvasing board are all ready to meet the needs of Union County voters. We want you to come and see us on the election dates. I have seen local elections come down to as few as a single vote, so believe me when I say that your vote really counts.”
For questions or to pick up a vote by mail ballot, you can reach the UCSOE office at (386)496-2236 or drop by at 175 West Main St. in Lake Butler. Information is also available at the website www.unionvotes.com.
