St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes presented her tentative budget for fiscal year 2025 on Tuesday, June 18, during the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. At $4,096,675, the budget represents an increase of only 0.68% — or $27,620 — over last year.
This year, the office will handle one of its biggest election cycles. The budget is impacted by several factors:
· the presidential general election, which requires increased staffing and additional poll workers
· the ballot size, which has grown to two cards for the Nov. 5 general election, due in part to the high number of contests and six constitutional amendments
· the county’s population growth, which will necessitate the addition of two election day polling places and three early voting locations
· the purchase of new tabulators to replace aging machines that have been in service since 2010.
Inclusion of the new tabulators in the budget increases the total request to $5,054,966.
The population estimate for St. Johns County, as per the U.S. Census Bureau, as of last July 1 was 320,110 residents. Of this, 226,100 — or 89.7% — were registered to vote. That figure has since been reduced by 5,322.
Of the remaining voters, 47,184 are registered as Democrats, 121,252 as Republicans and 52,342 as other.
Oakes told commissioners about two new additions her office plans to make. In July, it will launch TextMyGov, which will help voters connect for more information. Also, the addition of One Call Services will improve communication between her office and poll workers.
