It was mostly smooth sailing on the high seas of Volusia County voting during the highest midterm voter turnout in recent memory.
More than 230,000 people — 60.33 percent — voted. Three minor incidents seem to illustrate how rare problems were this election, and one precinct — 415 in Deltona — had difficulties uploading its data.
In Samsula, an angry voter shouted at poll workers and said he would come back.
He didn’t.
In DeLand, a voter was accidentally given a ballot that had already been filled out incorrectly by another voter.
Poll workers apparently accidently added the spoiled ballot to the pile of blank ballots yet to be handed out.
And in Deltona, there was a report of a poll worker assisting a voter and helping mark his or her ballot.
Which poll workers are allowed to do, if the voter asks for help.
In Precinct 415 in Deltona, election results weren’t reported until after 10:30 p.m., leaving some candidates with close races anxiously waiting.
Volusia County Elections Supervisor Lisa Lewis told The Beacon Nov. 7 that poll workers at 415 thought they had uploaded the election results successfully.
“They went to upload, and they thought that it did. It had not,” Lewis said.
Workers pulled the media card too soon from the voting-tabulator. When they again attempted to upload the results, the machine wouldn’t allow them to do so — which is exactly what the machine is supposed to do.
“Everything on the machine side worked as it was supposed to,” Lewis said.
All of the ballots were then carried to the Elections Office on New York Avenue in DeLand to be retabulated by Herman, the high-speed voting tabulator used mostly for vote-by-mail ballots.
This is not the first problem at the Deltona precinct. In the August primary, failure of workers to remove a seal that allows them to unlock the media compartment also held up proceedings.
“I’ve already got my 2019 bucket,” Lewis Lewis said, referring to a bucket where she keeps notes for election-worker training, and changes she’d like to see for the next election.
“It’s not as big as it’s been in the past,” Lewis said. “Overall, I think it was a smooth election.”
Lewis ascribed the smooth sailing and high turnout to voter awareness.
“They seem to be more engaged. I think it’s awesome and exciting to see all these people voting,” Lewis said.
Automatic recounts
Three races are up for automatic recount because of razor-thin margins: Republican Elizabeth Fetterhoff versus Democrat Patrick Henry in state House District 26, Edgewater City Council District 1, and Pat Patterson versus Barb Girtman in County Council District 1.
In the case of a difference of less than half of a percent, a voting-tabulator machine is used to recount the ballots. When the difference is less than a quarter of a percent, a manual recount is required.
Of the three recounts, Fetterhoff vs. Henry, with 50.1 and 49.9 percent respectively, is the only one so far up for manual recount. Since they’re running for state representative, the state will execute the recount, if necessary.
Provisional ballots could change the razor-thin margins. The Canvassing Board will consider 376 provisional ballots at its meeting at 2 p.m. today, Thursday, Nov. 8. Only 73 of those are from District 1.
Voters cast “provisional ballots” when there are problems with their eligibility; for example, if the voter’s signature differs greatly from what’s on record, or if a voter has recently moved and didn’t change his or her address with the Elections Office.
Depending on the status of the provisional ballots, Edgewater City Council District 1 and County Council District 1 will both be retabulated by Herman. Those recounts are tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon, Nov. 9.
SELECTED LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS ON THE NEXT PAGE
Local election results
Editor’s note: These are final results as of election night. May not include provisional ballots or changes that occur in a recount.
Results stated as percentages of the votes cast. State- or districtwide results are in parentheses.
Visit www.volusiaelections.org for the most-up-to-date results.
VOLUSIA VOTER TURNOUT
Registered voters 382,408
Ballots cast 230,719
Blank ballots cast 32
Turnout 60.33 percent
U.S. SENATOR
Rick Scott (R) 54.86 (50.19)
Bill Nelson (D) 44.82 (49.81)
Write-in 67 votes
CONGRESS DISTRICT 6
Michael Waltz (R) 54.17 (56.33)
Nancy Soderberg (D) 45.83 (43.67)
GOVERNOR
Ron DeSantis (R) 54.52 (49.7)
Andrew Gillum (D) 43.87 (49.08)
— None of the other gubernatorial candidates reached 1 percent, either locally or statewide.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ashley Moody (R) 57.64 (52.23)
Sean Shaw (D) 40.36 (45.98)
Jeffrey Marc Siskind 2 (1.79)
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jimmy Patronis (R) 56.42 (51.86)
Jeremy Ring (D) 43.46 (48.14)
Write-in 46 votes (0)
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE
Matt Caldwell (R) 54.90 (50.08)
Nicole “Nikki” Fried (D) 45.10 (49.92)
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 14
Dorothy L. Hukill (R)* 54.43 (56.35)
Melissa “Mel” Martin (D) 45.57 (43.65)
* Hukill died during the campaign. Votes for her counted for Tommy A. Wright, the substitute designated by the Republican Party.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 24
Paul Renner (R) 64.47 (61.06)
Adam Morley (D) 35.53 (38.94)
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 26
Elizabeth Fetterhoff (R) 50.06
Patrick Henry (D) 49.94
* Out of 61.038 votes cast in the race, Fetterhoff had 72 more than Henry.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 27
David Santiago (R) 55.59
Carol Lawrence (D) 44.41
JUDICIAL RETENTION
Alan Lawson, Supreme Court
Yes 71.33 (71.44)
No 28.67 (28.56)
Eric Eisnaugle, 5th District Court of Appeal
Yes 65.08 (63.3)
No 34.92 (36.7)
CIRCUIT JUDGE, 7TH CIRCUIT
Linda L. Gaustad 55.94 (58.62)
Ryan Will 44.06 (41.38)
COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Barbara Girtman 50.20
Pat Patterson 49.80
— Out of 41,070 votes cast in the race, Girtman had 162 more votes than Patterson.
COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3
Michael J. Arminio 38.86
Deborah A. “Deb” Denys 61.14
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1
Al Bouie 48.02
Jamie Michele Haynes 51.98
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5
Ruben Colón 50.78
Melody Johnson 49.22
DEBARY CITY COUNCIL SEAT 3
Howard Gates 44.95
Patricia Stevenson 55.05
DEBARY CITY COUNCIL SEAT 4
Phyllis Butlien 50.97
Eugene G. Kowalski 49.03
DELAND CITY COMMISSION SEAT 5
Markesha James 44.56
Kevin Reid 55.44
DELTONA MAYOR
Santiago Avila Jr. 47.10
Heidi K. Herzberg 52.90
DELTONA CITY COMMISSION DISTRICT 1
Loren King 59.25
Willie Thomas Stephens 40.75
DELTONA CITY COMMISSION DISTRICT 3
H. Lester Carrero 42.37
Maritza Vazquez 57.63
DELTONA CITY COMMISSION DISTRICT 4
Robert “Bob” McFall 50.56
Ruben Munoz 49.44
— Out of 5,026 votes cast in the race, McFall had 56 more than Munoz.
DELTONA CITY COMMISSION DISTRICT 5
Donald Freeman 48.96
Victor M. Ramos 51.04
PIERSON TOWN COUNCIL SEAT 1
Lambert James Anderson 48.53
James T. Peterson 51.47
— Out of 441 votes cast in the race, Peterson had 13 more than Anderson.
SOIL AND WATER
CONSERVATION DISTRICT
SEAT 1
William Bliss 58.29
Derrick Orberg 41.71
SEAT 3
Beth James 45.92
Wesley Wayne Wilson Jr. 19.27
Christine Wilt 34.81
SEAT 5
J. Mark Barfield 20.70
Andy Kelly 46.50
David Schaefer 32.80
WEST VOLUSIA HOSPITAL AUTHORITY
GROUP A, SEAT 1
John M. Hill 57.09
Voloria Manning 42.91
GROUP B, SEAT 1
Webster Barnaby 45.39
Dolores Guzman 54.61
GROUP B, SEAT 2
Michael Ray 47.45
Kathie D. Shepard 52.55
DEBARY REFERENDUM FOR BONDS
TO BUILD A COMMUNITY CENTER
Yes, For Bonds 29.60
No, Against Bonds 70.40
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
No. 1, Increased Homestead Exemption
Yes 47.61 (58.09)
No 52.39 (41.91)
No. 2, Limit on Property-Tax Assessments
Yes 65.43 (66.49)
No 34.57 (33.51)
No. 3, Voter Control of Gambling
Yes 66.95 (71.46)
No 33.05 (28.54)
No. 4, Voting Restoration Amendment
Yes 60.30 (64.49)
No 39.70 (35.51)
No. 5, Supermajority Vote Required
Yes 66.40 (65.75)
No 33.60 (34.25)
No. 6, Rights of Crime Victims; Judges
Yes 50.91 (61.62)
No 49.09 (38.38)
No. 7, Survivor Benefits
Yes 53.17 (65.76)
No 46.83 (34.24)
No. 9, Prohibits Oil, Gas Drilling, Vaping
Yes 60.68 (68.85)
No 39.32 (31.15)
No. 10, State and Local Government Structure, Operation
Yes 53.55 (63.19)
No 46.45 (36.81)
No. 11, Removal of Obsolete Provisions; Criminal Statutes
Yes 55.52 (62.12)
No 44.48 (37.88)
No. 12, Lobbying and Abuse of Office
Yes 77.03 (78.92)
No 22.97 (21.08)
No. 13, Ends Dog Racing
Yes 60.89 (69)
No 39.11 (39)
