Democracy has its day in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - At 6 a.m., the polls weren't opening for another hour at the William Vickery Community Center, but Jim and Larkin Hubbard weren't wasting any time. The couple recently moved here from Georgia.

Larkin Hubbard said, "In Atlanta, if you don't get out, and early, you're not gonna vote for hours and hours and hours."

Her husband Jim Hubbard said, (It’s) something everyone should do regardless of who you're votin' for. Get your butt out here and vote."

By 7 a.m., they were joined by a long line of people, ready to cast their ballots.

Escambia County elections officials said turnout would be high throughout the day.

Elections supervisor David Stafford said there's been a few reported ballot jams, but he said poll workers are trained to deal with those situations.

He said there are also backup machines on stand-by if needed.

But Stafford said the biggest issue of the day dealt with long wait times because of the long ballot.

There are a whopping 12 amendments on the ballot up for vote.

"Ah! It was ridiculous!” said one voter. “I couldn't believe how long some of them were. There were two  whole columns of just reading, and they were repetitive. Am I putting the right thing down? Because I don't know what they're saying."

Escambia County Elections Supervisor David Stafford said, "For the first time, we have a two page ballot, so everything takes longer. It takes longer to get your ballot. It takes longer for you vote your ballot in the voting booth, and it takes a while for it to go through the tabulator."

Some of the amendments are very lengthy and filled with legalese that could make them difficult to understand, and so folks are spending lots of time reading them, leading to long wait times.

Save time at the polls by reading the amendments on our onPolitix site before you head to the polls.

Stafford said there are two ways to put an amendment onto a ballot: through a voter initiative and through the Florida legislature.

Stafford said when Floridians lead the charge, get the signatures and have an amendment placed on a ballot, they are confined to only a 75 word description.

But he said when the Florida legislature puts an amendment on a ballot, they have a lot of leeway.

Stafford said, "When the legislature puts Constitutional amendments on the ballot, they're under no such restrictions. They exempted themselves from that requirement, which is why you have (500) to 600 word amendments."

Elections officials sent sample ballots ahead of Election Day in hopes that people would study before heading to the polls.  

Much more election coverage, including ballot initiatives and results (as they are returned), is available on our Florida onPolitix page.