Pinellas: Turnout at 15 percent

Polling station deputy Renee Graham, 25, of St. Petersburg, greets Ryan Palmer, 2, whose parents Paul, 37, and Jennifer Palmer, 31, voted at King of Peace Metropolitan Community Church. [Lara Cerri | Times]

1 p.m. Tuesday

As of this morning, turnout in Pinellas County is at 15.3 percent when today's voters are included with early voters and those who turned in absentee ballots, according to supervisor of elections spokeswoman Nancy Whitlock.

More than half of those voting in the presidential preference primary -- 8.3 percent -- voted this morning. Another 7 percent participated in early voting or turned in absentee ballots.

A new update will be available after 2 p.m.

10 a.m. Tuesday

There was a steady flow of voters this morning at Westminster Presbyterian Church in St. Petersburg.

Luanne Rechtshaid, 39, said she had a big decision to make over which presidential candidate to support, but admitted she's still not "100 percent confident" in her vote for Barack Obama.

Her yes vote for Amendment 1 was an easier call. She recently moved here from California and was shocked by her property tax bill. "It's sticker shock," she said. "We were paying about $2,000 in taxes in California and here we're going to end up paying about $10,000."

"It just seems crazy."

At St. Raphael's Catholic Church on Snell Isle, there was a big rush when the polls opened at 7 a.m. but the pace seems to have slowed.

Like Rechtshaid, Chris Click, 36, also admitted a bit of angst over his presidential pick. The self-employed Republican voted for Mitt Romney, but admitted he was kind of on the fence. "At the end of the day, we definitely need a change."

He thinks the presidential race will be a close one between Republicans and Democrats and wants to see what the Democrats have to say before he makes up his mind. "I just want the right person to get in there and get things done."

Click also said he supports the portability amendment even though he has no plans to move. He thinks the presidential race will be a close run and wants to see what the Democrats have to say before he makes up his mind.

At the Willis S. Johns Recreation Center in St. Petersburg, Pat Coppola, 87, said he came out to support Hillary Clinton.

"I like her. I think she has better ideas than Obama," he said. He said he initially supported Obama but didn't like some of his recent views and comments he's been making.

"I don't think he likes a woman in the White House," he said.

For Robert Stellges, 77, a retired plumber, the portability amendment drew him to the polls. He sees the pros and cons of it, but decided the positives outweighed the negatives.

"I decided to go for it -- a little bit of savings is better than nothing."

--Melanie Ave, Times staff writer

Photo above: The moon still above them, 11 voters were waiting in line at 1st Baptist Church in Tarpon Springs as Precinct 705 opened at 7 a.m. Click to enlarge. [Jim Damaske | Times]

Comments

[MITT RULES]

MITT DOMINATED TV ADVERTISING.

HE HAD NEARLY 10 TIMES AS MANY ADS AS MCCAIN!!

Agree 9:39 - he had 4,000 more ads than mccain, and he had a 20 person ground crew for over a year. I think its safe to say these close results are showing he didn't get his money's worth.

[Sheila OConnor]

She got to vote for Obama? I'm a registered Democrat and I only got to vote for the 2 issues (tax reform and school $.) When I questioned this with the poll worker in Treasure Island I was told because the Dems were not to be seated at the convention they were not on the ballot. I don't understand why there's endorsements, etc. when registered Dem's couldn't vote. Someone help me out.

Mitt Rules,

Make sure you come back on here around 9 tonight.

[because he flips and flops]

hey MITT RULES, i agree with you for once!

McCain did not run a single ad until January; Romney ran more ads in September than McCain has run to date.

why isnt Romney winning big??? the answer...

[Mitt's not getting the ROI]

Really, compare that to McCain who has had nothing more in Florida than a strong message and a group of strong volunteers who were apart of Jeb's team.

It sure did cost Romney a lot of money and pandering to become popular.

[Its a loss for Mitt no matter what]

When you spend that kind of personal money and you are in a fight to win you have to admit something is wrong.

I say let's keep on encouraging Mitt by letting him win some more primaries, so he'll keep spending his own money and drive his fortune into the ground.

[MITT RULES]

I DID NOT PREDICT A WIN TONIGHT, 9:42.

I WAS ONLY STATING A FACT THAT ROMNEY HAD OUTSPENT EVERYONE ELSE!

I WILL ACCEPT IT IF MITT DOESNT WIN.

RUDY IS GOING TO LOSE BIGGGG TTTTIME.

[Sheila OConnor]

Got my answer - I was given a Independent ballot instead of a Democrat. Poll workers told me there was no Democratic race since the Dem's weren't to be seated at the convention. I was outright lied to - I lived in Chicago for 20 years - but this is my first taste of voter fraud! I'm furious!

I just voted NO on Amendment 1… ie: the use of our Constitution to validate the act of forced taxation upon the people.

The greatest untold story of this entire scam perpetrated by our Legislature in an effort to divert attention away from their failure to address the real problem; Insurance.

I will not vote for any candidate who accepts an endorsement from a Governor who knows not where his office is, and has spent his first year jet-setting for photo-ops and pimping $240 as a job well done.

Accepting an endorsement from “The People’s Mistake”… will be “McCain’s Big Mistake”

Sheila OConnor - This blog post sounds fishy. I am not calling you a liar, just that you might not be telling the truth.

Yeah, each polling station should have equal amounts of dem/rep volunteers.

As president, Obama has said he would meet with the U.S.'s enemies without precondition. But making nice with Clinton apparently at the State of the Union is another mattter.

mitt is daddy warbucks.

but what a waste. he's losing.

[Vox Pop]

This voter is not uncertain. If I vote for a GOP sponsored tax plan, I'm going to get screwed.

I don’t know about you folks, but I did not need Dubya to explain the “State of our Union”. All you have to do is open you damn eyes and take a look around you.

The State of the Union is simply a State of Recession.

[Sheila OConnor]

I am not lying. I'm going to go back to TI after work and see what can be done, if anything. These must be the most poorly trained poll workers EVER. But what's the excuse of the "head honcho" they directed me to that said there was no "Democratic ticket because of the Dem's not being seated at the convention?" Wish I had gotten his name!

That's real weird Sheila. Good luck with that.

Shiela, Did you report it anywhere but here?

Is this in the playbook - set up the protest publically?

I called the Democratic Party and told them about it. They're who told me I was probably given an Indy ballot rather than Dem. I'm going to call Pinellas County Voting info right now.

Get is handled by the profiles, not by the blog

Get is handled by the professionals, not by the blog

[Mitt's Wasteful Spending]

Let's get back to how much Mitt spent on FL. I am still laughing about that. For it to be that tight of a race after having 4,000 more ads, and 20 staffers for a year is pretty hilarious.

11:37 Nice to see that they give you a break from making Pushpoll calls to comment on the internet.

I love the way on each election day people post on here some story on how they are victims of voter fraud. If you really were, contact Kurt Browning, not the buzz.

Luann just voted to lock in her $10k tax bill. Good job, stupid.

Luanne, On Amendment 1, you did not know this issue either. With the average savings of $240. How did you figure that this savings will bring your current taxes in step with California? Just think, your neighbor is paying $2,000 and your paying $10,000, lol. I am voting no on Amendment 1, we need a fair plan for all of Florida.

[Sally]

Sheila, I hope they can let you vote for Barack! I'm voting for him too here in Tampa today!

[Maverick]

McCain-YES YES
Amendment 1-NO NO NO NO -it is just bad for Florida.

[Sam]

"The division of elections in Florida has a VOTER FRAUD HOTLINE, 1-877-868-3737, where they can file a complaint of someone suspected of vote fraud."

Mitt Romney is a serial flip-flopping panderer:

He would say pretty much anything to get your votes. Look at what he did in Michigan.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2ZiNTg5MTViMzY2OTU4MzAxNTRhMDM2ODY5YTFlNDc=

MITTSURFING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgbQviUqndg

I talked with 12 people in line at my polling place. 10-No's, 2-Yes' on 1.

And when I asked about Mitt, 4-never heard of him, 3-will vote for him, 5-said they used one as a kid.