Advocates push for early voting site in South St. Pete

Council members and voting rights advocates say the lack of an early voting site creates barriers for voters.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Community leaders and voting rights advocates are calling on Pinellas County to add an early voting location in South St. Petersburg ahead of the November general election.

The Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter to Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus raising concerns about the lack of an early voting site in South St. Pete. The organization argues the absence of a location in the community creates geographic and transportation barriers, particularly for Black voters.

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St. Petersburg City Council Member Cory Givens Jr. said residents in the 33711 and 33712 ZIP codes currently have to leave their community to vote early.

“They don’t have access to an early voting site, so to me, that’s nothing but voter suppression,” Givens said.

Pinellas County currently has seven early voting locations planned for the Nov. 3 general election. They include locations in St. Petersburg, Gulfport, Clearwater, Largo and Palm Harbor. Early voting is scheduled for Oct. 19 through Nov. 1, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

The county says early voting locations are selected years in advance as part of a countywide plan designed to provide geographic access to voters.

“Currently, all Pinellas voters are within five miles of an early voting site,” the county said in a statement.

The county also points out that voters have other options, including voting by mail and voting at their assigned polling place on Election Day.

But advocates say distance and transportation can still create barriers for some voters, particularly people who do not have access to a vehicle, work hourly jobs, are caregivers, are older or have disabilities.

Esther Sanni, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, said the number of early voting locations in Pinellas County deserves scrutiny.

“Pinellas County has roughly 609,000 active registered voters, and we only have seven early voting locations,” Sanni said. “That means you’re looking at about 87,000 registered voters per site.”

By comparison, neighboring Hillsborough County has 27 early voting locations for roughly 815,000 registered voters.

Sanni said officials should consider factors including transportation, travel distance, accessibility, site capacity and early voting turnout when determining whether additional locations are needed.

Givens has suggested the Childs Park Recreation Center as one possible location for an early voting site.

“There are multiple neutral voting sites where we can have early voting locations,” Givens said. “It’s just a matter of having the will to want to do it.”

Florida law requires early voting sites to be designated at least 30 days before the election, according to the information provided by advocates. For the Nov. 3 election, that deadline is Oct. 4. But the county has not indicated that it plans to add another early voting location.