Confessions of a Voting Snob

So what's the over/under on turnout for today's Fort Lauderdale muni elections? Tim Smith seems to think it's 10 percent, and that sounds about right. I suspect there's some voter fatigue from the two-year presidential campaign that ended last November. I'll bet voters -- especially the elderly ones who turn...

By Thomas Francis

February 10, 2009

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So what's the over/under on turnout for today's Fort Lauderdale muni elections? Tim Smith seems to think it's 10 percent, and that sounds about right. I suspect there's some voter fatigue from the two-year presidential campaign that ended last November. I'll bet voters -- especially the elderly ones who turn out in droves for these things -- are working more, and that will cut down on turn out. Finally, the main event is the mayor's race and all the candidates have more-or-less the same talking points. For the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference. Call me a cynic, but if it's 10 percent, I'll take the under.

And you know what? I'm fine with that. The fewer people who show up to vote the more power for me. It's also a shorter wait. Plus, there's the unspeakable glamor of waltzing around with the I Voted sticker.

In the mayoral race, do we all agree that Seiler's the prohibitive favorite? To me, the big question is whether he can get the crucial tenth of a percentage point over 50.

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