Thank you, Victoria Oakes, SJC's Supervisor of Elections!

So impressed with the improvements in election administration in St. Johns County,, 2006-2014!  There's more to do, my friends. 

SJC now has nine (9) early voting locations, including West Augustine.  

As of 6 PM today, October 29, 2024, some 46.7% of all 229,967 SJC voters have voted, one week before the election.  Mail-in ballots and early voting are voter-friendly and relieve the pressure on voters that once existed.  We're complying with the 15th Amendment and Voting Rights Act. We're doing it right, in a place the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the most lawless" in America.

Thank you, Victoria Oakes, SJC Election Supervisor.

Background: I once raised concerns about SJC Supervisor of Elections compliance issues, reporting them to the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.  Those concerns have now been heard and heeded.  Thank you, Victoria Oakes, our elected SJC Supervisor of Elections!

Footnote: As an undergraduate at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, I was an antitrust paralegal at a Washington, D.C. law firm, hired by the late St. John Barrett, who was the career Deputy in the Civil Rights Division from 1957-1967: he told me inspiring stories about DOJ's effort to bring the  Rule of Law to live in American governments (his memoirs make interesting reading).

What's next:  1. Why not follow Duval County's example and have early voting on the Sunday before Election Day?  That will make voting more accessible to people who work six days a week. 2. Why not close our county schools for primary and general election days, as suggested by elected Duval County Election Supervisory Election Supervisor Jerry Holland, following the example of Broward County. That will save money and improve the process.