JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Early voting in a special election for a Jacksonville City Council seat to replace the late Tommy Hazouri wraps up this weekend.
Turnout so far has been very low, and it’s not expected to go above 15%.
Some are crying foul and blaming Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan for not opening more sites.
The outspoken “Black Voters Matter” group said there should be 20 early voting sites, not 15.
Hogan told News4JAX his reason behind there not being 20 voting sites open.
“We knew there was going to be a low turnout, that’s why we didn’t put 20 out there,” Hogan said. “Number two municipals don’t even have to hold early voting, we originally looked at only five or six sites.”
The group also said there should have been signs at certain locations letting potential voters know the early voting site is closed and that they should go to another location.
Hogan said he sent out mailers to all voters informing them of early voting locations.
Another issue that came up was that the supervisor’s office wanted to close down the downtown office sometime next year and move the entire operation to the northside election center.
Hogan said when this closes they will keep a satellite location somewhere downtown, such as city hall, to give voters information and access.
Early voting ends on Sunday. Election day is Tuesday and all 199 precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All registered voters are eligible to participate.