Tag: Jesse M. Purdon

More: Here's what you need to know about election season in Collier County In a packed conference room at the Naples Area Board of Realtors offices on Pine Ridge Road, visitors mingled with candidates for local and state races, studied campaign materials and cast their mock votes for an unscientific poll at the Politics in the Park event. "Generally, it’s done outside — Politics in the Park — luckily with the inclement weather we’ve had today this actually worked out perfect.” More: Editorial: Election calendar holds key dates in coming week The event, held in cooperation with the Collier Building Industry Association, allowed prospective voters to meet candidates, ranging from fire commission hopefuls to those vying for state office, Purdon said. “We’ve been doing this in Collier County for years,” she said. More: Record number of vote-by-mail ballots for primary sent to uniformed, overseas voters Edwards said her office expects a voter turnout between 23 and 25 percent for the Aug. 28 primary. “Unfortunately,” she said, "turnout is, for a primary election, is low.” During the primary for the midterm election in 2014 the turnout in Collier was at 21 percent, she said. Voter turnout for primaries during a presidential election year are generally higher. For the general election in 2016, Collier led the state in voter turnout with 87 percent, Edwards said. Dave Carpenter, qualifying officer for Edwards’ office, is usually working behind the scenes during election season. “This is a chance (to) see our candidates, say hi to them.” He still remembers the first time he attended a local straw vote event. Early voting for the primary election is Aug. 18-25.