Some Leon County voters say that while picking candidates is straightforward, understanding the amendments on their ballot is another story.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
Leon County voters say ballot amendments are hard to understand. Here’s where to get more information
Carlos Ayala voted early and dropped off his ballot at the Leon County Elections Office. He knew which candidates he wanted to support, but he says the amendments took more work to understand.
“I prefer in my opinion maybe another citizen is going to do the same, have more clarification about the amendment and I was asking other people in another person teachers for example, and some friends in the county in order to understand more or less about the amendments in order to say yes or not.” Carlos Ayala said.
Ayala is not alone in wanting more clarity. Another Leon County voter contacted ABC27 after reviewing his sample ballot. He questioned three proposed changes to the county charter. One addresses human dignity. Another would remove outdated references to state law. The third focuses on historically underserved and vulnerable populations. The voter wanted to know what those changes would actually accomplish and what a yes or no vote would mean. I reached out to him but did not hear back.
I visited Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley, who says even he sometimes has to take a closer look at how an amendment is worded. While his office can point voters to more information, it cannot tell them how to interpret the proposals or which way to vote.
“What we can do is provide information and websites where maybe those things are explained better and again, it’s sometimes difficult for me to understand does a yes mean I’m voting for something or against something. It takes a bit of thought to get through these.” Mark Earley said.
Earley says one place to start is LeonVotes.gov. Under “Election Information,” voters can find the amendments on their ballot and access the full text of the proposed changes. The website also links to the government agencies responsible for putting those questions before voters. For the three county charter amendments, that includes Leon County’s website.
Earley says his office is responsible for making sure the amendments appear correctly on the ballot, but it is up to voters to review the information and decide how they want to vote.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.