Primary Election Day 2018 is fast approaching.

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
August 7, 2018 10:30 a.m.

Voters don’t decide issues; they decide who will decide issues.  –George Will

While they say that all politics are local, Nassau County voters will have an opportunity to vote in state and federal races this year as well.  The information presented later in this article is taken from the Florida Division of Elections website and lists all the candidates running for all the offices that may or may not appear on Nassau County primary ballots.

If you are a registered Republican (REP) or Democrat (DEM), you will be able to vote in your party’s primaries.  If you are not affiliated with a party (NPA), you probably will not – unless the primary is deemed to serve as a General Election.  But all registered voters will be able to vote for the candidates that survive the August primaries when the winners of those contests stand for election in the November 6 General Election.  Are you still with me?

The person who will figure out all of this in constructing ballots is Vicki Cannon, the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections.  The short answer to a complicated scenario is this:  if a contest appears on your ballot, you may vote in that race — regardless if you are Republican, Democrat, something else or none of the above.

The situation becomes much more complicated when write-in candidates (WRI) have qualified for election. Write-ins have virtually no chance of winning elections:  their names do not appear on the ballot.  If someone does choose to write in their name, the written name must be easily matchable to the official name on file, or the vote will not count.

Write-ins often force a General Election when for all practical purposes the election has been decided in the primary.  However, politically savvy candidates have found a way to use write-ins to limit voter participation in those elections where only one party is on the ballot. They have discovered that if they can convince someone to qualify as a write-in candidate, they are then able to limit voter participation in a primary election to one party, thereby locking out other voters.  Often, but not always, the write-ins mysteriously withdraw from the election following the primary.

Civic-minded voters might suspect that the existing write-in rules are a way around a Constitutional Amendment approved by Florida voters a few years ago that declares that primaries should be considered general elections if there are no opposing party candidates qualified to run.  But apparently, our elected representatives do not see the situation the same way. Go figure.

If you find Florida election law a tad bewildering, join the club.  Better yet, contact your state senator and state representative about closing loopholes and eliminating primary voting confusion.

The tables below show all the people running for all the federal and state offices for which Nassau voters may vote.  Theoretically.  Your sample ballot will narrow the choices available to you during the August primary cycle.

Good luck!

And P.S.  … I have not included the judicial races.  You may see the entire state election picture on the Florida Division of Elections website.  General voting information and local candidate information may be found on the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections website.

Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.