By DOTTY NIST
The grass-roots group that began meeting on June 28 as “Walton County Citizens Speak” has now been dubbed “Walton County Citizens for Honest Government,” and its gatherings have continued on a weekly basis.
The new organization’s July 10 meeting featured remarks by Bill Vorwald, recently retired from the Walton County Supervisor of Elections Office, on the elections process. Vorwald shared some lesser-known details of the process, including the fact that voters are able to obtain a second and third ballot upon request in instances when they “mess up” a ballot.
Vorwald also said that, contrary to rumor, voters are not required to cast a vote in every race on the ballot in order for their ballots to register.
He said that in instances where a voter is wheel-chair-bound and not able to come to the polls, a family member may serve as an absentee designee. Five days prior to the election, the designee must give provide a letter to the supervisor of elections office in exchange for a package to be delivered to the family member, who then uses the package to vote. The absentee designee then returns the completed package to the supervisor of elections office.
Another little-known fact pointed out by Vorwald is that there are currently more than 30 names on the ballot for President of the United States.
For more information, Vorwald referred attendees to the Walton County Supervisor of Elections web site, www.votewalton.com, and the Florida Division of Elections web site, www.elections.dos.state.fl.us.
Walton County Citizens for Honest Government now also has a web site, www.waltoncountycitizens.com, which features useful information on issues of interest in Walton County, along with a schedule of weekly meetings of the organization, also referred to as the “Citizens’ Academy.”
A candidate forum is on tap for the July 24 meeting. On July 31, former Walton County District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows is scheduled to speak on the job of a county commissioner. Weekly meetings are to continue through Aug. 7. They begin at 5 p.m. and conclude at approximately 8 p.m., in room 119 at the Northwest Florida State College South Walton Center.
The meetings are recorded on video by Ray Zukowski of Neighborvision and are streamed live on the web site www.neighborvision.com. People watching the meetings on line are able to sign in and participate interactively with comments or questions. After the meetings, the videos are posted on the Neighborvision web site for viewing as needed.