St. Johns County preparing for 85 percent voter turnout in November

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — We’re exactly 62 days away from Election Day.

Action News Jax checked in with our second-largest local county to see how preparations are going.

St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes said her employees are gearing up for their biggest election to date.

On Thursday, employees were in the process of finalizing ballots.

“Just received valid certifications from the state so that means we can move ahead on the actual production our ballots,” said Oakes.

Overseas ballots will be mailed Sept. 19, and local mail-in ballots go out Sept. 24.

“Our system is safe. It is secure. But voters do you have a responsibility,” said Oakes. “Request your ballot early, vote it and return it in time for it to be counted.”

Oakes cautioned with waiting till the last minutes. Ballots must be at the Supervisor of Elections Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day for them to count.

Oakes said so far, 55,000 voters have requested a mail-in ballot, a record for the county.

“We are now in at almost 205,000 registered voters. So in the next month, we could add 2,000 to 3,000 more voters easily,” said Oakes.

A testament, she said, to the enormous growth in the county over the years.

“When we look at a turnout, this is going to be the largest election that St. Johns County has ever had,” said Oakes.

Oakes projects an 85% turnout for the general election.

Cox Media Group