Broward’s Turnout Lagging State
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Broward County’s turnout is lagging again, this time in the presidential primary.
Statewide roughly 15.7 percent of the voters have cast ballots by absentee or early voting through Friday. That includes about 16.6 percent of the Democrats, 24.5 percent of the Republicans and 1.5 percent of the NPAs, according to the website ElectionSmith run by University of Florida political science professor Daniel A. Smith.
Daniel A. Smith
The Broward Supervisor of Elections reports that roughly 13 percent of all the county’s voters had cast ballots through Saturday, one day later.
Broward’s turnout has trailed the state and neighboring counties in the past several elections. Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’ failure to do more to increase the turnout is a major issue for her Democratic primary challenger, candidate David Brown.
Brown’s campaign literature contends the Broward turnout was behind the statewide average for the past 15 year.
March 13th, 2016 at 6:56 pm
So much for the big turnout promised by the new chair of the Broward Demo Party Cynthia “All Promises” Busch.
March 13th, 2016 at 11:08 pm
I see Cynthia Busch continues to lead the Broward Democrats to failure. She had over 7 months to get her 700 members of her Broward DEC available to make sure their fellow Democrats signed up for absentee votes throughout Broward County. Has she done any of this since August 2015, when she took over? Of Course Not! And don’t forget to include her handpicked white assistant Travis Perron into the mix of failures. For as soon as Cynthia took over the Broward DEC, she fired the black ass off of Mitch’s handpicked assistant and placed Travis in to the driver’s seat. Too bad the both of them together drove that bus in a ditch.
Once again: I ask why the Democratic Women’s Club of Northeast Broward County Club had to shut down. I welcome any and all reasons. Cynthia, your ideas too.
March 14th, 2016 at 7:40 am
Simple. Time for change. Vote David Brown. He discusses this on his website and the impact this has on Florida. http://www.votedavebrown.com/issues.html
March 14th, 2016 at 7:46 am
I have never been contacted by the Broward DEC, even though I have been a registered Democrat in Broward County for 16 years. I was a registered Republican in Florida for the 14 years prior.
I voted early last Friday; and I have voted in every election since 2000 as a registered Democrat
I am a proud Democrat, but the Broward DEC, under both Mitch Ceasar and Cynthia Busch, have never reached out for me. And with continual infighting, I don’t have the stomach and nerves to sit through it or be a part of it.
Party outreach would be a positive accomplishment. In today’s world, with the plethora of social media available, the Broward DEC needs to do a better job.
March 14th, 2016 at 8:41 am
The precincts and Polling stations are poorly laid out in Broward County. You have some people who drive past two polling stations to get to their polling station. In 2012 many precincts had 4 hour line ups. To make matters worse. Some polling stations had a precinct with 4 hour line up and the one beside it had no line up. This was caused by poor management of resources. #DrSnipesNeedstoGo
March 14th, 2016 at 11:49 am
As a Basketball Commissioner with the Plantation Athletic League for many many years, when a coach didn’t like what was going on in his division, or with the League in general, I always had the same response: Why don’t you run for Commissioner, or even Chairman of the League?
This is always the case, everyone loves to complain, whether it was Mitch, or in this case Cynthia. I have been where these people are and have been.
It is so easy to complain from the outside, to vent, degrade, and think the job is easy… News Flash…It is not that easy, whether a D or an R.. Sometime the differences within any group make it difficult to work as a TEAM. Like herding cats.
Want a good example, see how many people line up for your HOA President or Board.
Stop whining and try the job yourself, throw yourself under a magnifying glass, and see what others see.
Finally, sign your name like a real man or woman, this anonymity is getting old!
signed as always…
Rico Petrocelli
Former Chairman Republican Party of Broward
Former Councilman City of Plantation (2005-2009)
954-931-0242
March 14th, 2016 at 2:57 pm
I love how Dr. Snipes has her name on all of the signs designating locations as early voting sites. I’m sure it has nothing to do with promoting her candidacy.
March 14th, 2016 at 5:23 pm
You cant blame a county leader or Elections head for low voter turn out when the ENTIRE POLITICAL CLASS HAS EITHER LIED TO OR BEEN UNABLE TO ACHIEVE PROMISED GOALS.
Republicans promised low taxes opposition to social n cultural changes n a balanced budget while Democrats promised the end to foreign wars huge defense outlays n improved social support programs with significant reductions in White vs others or male vs female education AND BOTH INCOME N ASSET differencies.
NONE OF THE ABOVE HAVE BEEN EVEN PARTIALLY ACHIEVED WHILE HIGH END INCOME KEEPS GROWING. The middle n working classes IN BOTH PARTIES feel duped betrayed n used.
Right now conservatives on the right are MORE ENRAGED so that not Dr Brenda Snipes or Mrs. Cynthnia Bush are responsible for the rate of absentee ballots.
Whatever positive work or negative missed opportunities these two ladies have generated the economy and how it effects people influence turn out – or a sense nothing can be done to improve things which maybe depressing Democratric turnout.
False scapecoating gets us nowhere significantly.
March 15th, 2016 at 8:39 am
You are right that it’s not Snipes job to push turnout. But it is Cynthia Busch’s job. It’s a little premature to say she failed because the real goal is November, but it doesn’t look good. The DEC isn’t a debate club. Their sole purpose is to get Democrats elected in Broward Couny. Part of that is pushing turnout and chasing absentees.
March 15th, 2016 at 9:25 am
Cynthia Busch missed an opportunity to test out her turnout machine in this primary because she has no turnout machine. She doesn’t even have an office. She runs around with Travis Perron all day and accomplishes nothing.
March 15th, 2016 at 11:06 am
It is the responsibility of the SOE to put the voting locations as close to the people as possible. Andrew has expertly pointed out how badly she has performed this duty.
March 15th, 2016 at 11:29 am
1. The job of the Supervisor of Elections is to conduct elections, not drive voter turnout in order help elect Democrats.
2. The job of the Broward Democratic Party is to elect Democrats. If Democrats aren’t excited to vote in the Presidential Preference Primary, it isn’t the local party’s fault. The problem is that many Democrats aren’t thrilled between one candidate they perceive as congenitally dishonest and another they perceive as a geriatric communist.
March 15th, 2016 at 1:18 pm
#12 is partially correct “The job Supervisor of Elections is to conduct elections, not drive voter turnout.” The problem is Dr. Snipes has forced people to wait hours at poles, due to sloppy management of resources, which drives people away. It’s very hard to encourage people to come out and vote when many remember the disaster of 2012. Secondly, many people have claimed they did not receive their absentee ballots. It makes it hard if you encouraged the public to ask for their absentee ballot and then find out they didn’t receive it.
The other issue is the poorly designed placement of precinct/Polling Place design. Many voters need to drive or walk past two polling stations to get to the polling station assigned to them.
If you look at the data in Broward county. If you live less than 120 yards about 29% chance you vote on Election Day. If you live greater than 120 yards drops to 22 % chance you vote on Election Day. If you live greater than 1200 yards drops to 20 % chance you vote on Election Day.
I was lazy when I did this analysis, I used the geo locations to calculate distance and did not consider additional barrier like Canals, divided roads, lack of sidewalks and other obstacles in doing my analysis. I would expect a higher differentiation if I used Googles API which would determine precise walking times, but that data costs me too much.
You can see how much of an impact a Supervisor of Elections can have in increasing or decreasing voter turnout by properly designing Precincts and Polling Places to minimize obstacles. Now that I have a better understanding of the issue, I can clearly state the Supervisor of Elections can have more of an impact on voter turnout than any other person or party in the county.
If Broward would have had an Energetic and Intelligent Supervisor of Elections we could have had a different governor elected in 2014. It was only 60 000 votes state wide. Those votes could have been received in Broward, but we under voted.
March 15th, 2016 at 1:49 pm
Mr Landanowski n Miss Greenbarg no doubt accurate BUT polling places (I served as principal aide to the SE of the NYC Board of Elections and was appointed both a poll watcher n Commissioner of Deeds) are governed by a rube goldberg budget n mandates that limit where you can put a polling place ASSUMING THE LANDLORDS WILL RENT YOU THE SPACE.
That you may pass multiple voting sites before coming to yours could be because of the boundary of EDs or availability of handicapped access or language racial or ethnic rights’
Requirements or issues.
And there is the issue of elwction day workers who generally are older many without cars which effects how close to bus linea sites are.
The Elections Chief is running elections in a county with large poor minorities in cities and widely dispersed upper middle class residents in the Western Badlands so you dont have the physical n population advantages of Monroe Miami Dade Palm Beach Pinellas Hillsborough Sarasota or Manatee Counties.
FROM BUDDY:
You touched upon an issue that hasn’t been addressed. It is hard to site polling places that are adequate in terms of parking, access, security, compliance with ADA laws, etc. Many landlords do not want the bother of having a precinct on their property. I don’t know enough to say if Brenda Snipes has aggressively looked for better polling locations. I do know that finding such locations are not as easy as it sounds.
March 15th, 2016 at 2:50 pm
From what I know Broward is turning out more voters then Dade and Palm Beach County and I find it funny that Cynthia Busch has done nothing to help Democrats turn out to vote and David Brown is not anyone other then a political hack who is nothing more then being one that loves politics and is a loser when he runs for any office and I am sure Stacy Ritter is running around on her golf cart to help Brown. And funny how Andrew is complaining how there are precincts that are not near where a person lives and duh Andrew all precincts must be inspected to make sure that they must also be inspected to make sure that they are handicap accessible so if a location is closer then others take that into consideration on whether a closer location is acceptable. Dr. Snipes is a very professional Supervisor Of Elections and Dave Brown is definitely not professional…. Dr. Snipes you are a very capable person and you will win
March 15th, 2016 at 4:56 pm
#14 Take my comments literally. I need to clarify, some people are driving literally past existing poling places that are being used for other precincts. I would suggest people look at precinct H007 – North Lauderdale Elementary. These voters should be able to use H005-N. Laud Saraniero Library. Now it gets even better for E012 – La Quinta Inn. Those residence must cross Sample road to get to that polling place. Both E005 – Forest Hills Elementary School and E034 Coral Springs Charter School/Library could accommodate them. Most people would then be substantially closer to the polling stations. This would increase voting.
I haven’t even mentioned about adding additional poling places. Readers are correct that those facilities primarily Club houses might not meet minimum requirements. I am only commenting on using existing facilities more efficiently. I would suggest people would lay polling stations on top of precinct maps and check for themselves. If any reader is interested I will gladly show them the data.
March 15th, 2016 at 6:37 pm
After living in South Florida for over 25 years, I recently moved to North Carolina. While waiting in line for a few minutes at my polling place this afternoon, I overheard a poll worker chatting with a voter about what a terrible supervisor Brenda Snipes is. Both were former FL residents having a friendly argument about which county is more of a mess – Broward or Palm Beach. It amazed me to hear people complaining about all of Dr. Snipes’s failures while standing in a tiny riverside fire station in Western North Carolina.
Brenda Snipes is truly an embarrassment…one I can’t escape even after moving almost 800 miles away. I strongly and whole heartedly urge all Broward voters to elect David Brown in August. I look forward to the day when the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office will be spoken about as an example to follow, rather than a disgrace to shake one’s head in shame over. David Brown can make that change a reality.
March 16th, 2016 at 6:26 am
This article would be fine in a world where facts don’t matter. Actually the Sun-Sentinel reports that at over 36 percent, Broward has a higher turnout than surrounding counties. David Browns literature is completely wrong. Broward has had one of the highest turnouts in Florida. Check available information on state election sites. Also know that turnout is driven by the candidates and parties, not a supervisor of elections. In spite of the fact that the Dem Party in Broward has been ineffective for years, Broward has consistently had a high turnout.
FROM BUDDY:
I agree that turnout is driven by candidates and parties.
The turnout in Broward for the last presidential primary for an open presidency — 2008– was 28%. That figure increased to 36 percent yesterday.
But the Democrats turned out 190,6223 voters in 2008 and 182,737 yesterday.
The Republicans had 99,917 voters eight years ago. They had 107,036 yesterday. That is probably the Donald Trump factor.
So Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the Broward Democratic Party actually had a lower number of Democrats vote in Broward than eight years ago. And there are many more registered Democrats in the county.
The state had a turnout of 46.04% yesterday, a figure that excludes independents. Broward had just under 36%, including all voters. How is 10 percent under the state a good turnout?
March 16th, 2016 at 10:33 am
Mr. Nevins states what RATIONALE Democrats see but the “Florida Squeeze” MS NBC Left n the old New York Outer Borough Jewish women from condos in South Florida are in DENIAL about voters n non-voters in Florida