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Delegates from around the world were in Florida today watching Americans vote. Seven foreign delegates visited precincts in Tallahassee and attended a voter turnout rally at Florida State University. As Whitney Ray tells us, the delegates were amazed by the number of candidates and issues on our ballots and the transparency at the polls.

A foreign site to foreign eyes Tuesday as a FSU student dressed like a robot greeted delegates from Nigeria, Canada, Cambodia and other countries.

Members of FSU Public Interest Research Group led the delegates on a tour, asking students to follow them to the polls. No students joined the march. At FSU it’s really easy to vote because they have a precinct right on campus.”

We met 18 Year Old Emily Knight shortly after she cast her first ballot.

“I just think that the decisions we make now are going to affect our future,” said Knight.

Imtiaz Asin, a Canadian Delegate in the US Department of State’s International Visitors Bureau of Cultural Affairs says voter turnout among youth in the US is as low as it is in Canada.

“People just don’t care. A lot of people don’t care about the issues that are relating to them. Nobody talks about youth issues,” said Asin.

Samuel Ezugwu from Nigeria says US voters are better off than voters in his country because we have so much access to information before we vote.

“Politicians have more work to do to get to the grassroots, to get the information out to them. SO they have to do a lot more visiting. Here you can use the social networks,” said Ezugwu.

Foreign delegates are also watching elections in other select states and are amazed that elections laws differ from state to state.

Today’s election to choose a new governor is considered a toss-up and could be driving a higher than usual turnout. 1994 set the record for turnout…66 percent, in a non presidential election in Florida. In addition to high turnout, 2010 could be the year of the first recount since the 2000 election

Voter turnout steady throughout the day.  Evelyn Spradley says casting her ballot this election was as important as ever. “Every election is important to me.” Why, she was asked. “It’s because I feel I have a say in how our government is run. City State, National.”

Most pollsters agree that the tight Governor’s race,Coupled with millions in negative ads will make for a close election. Perhaps close enough to trigger a recount. Based on likely turnout, the Governor’s race will have to be closer than thirty or forth thousand votes to trigger a recount.

A lot has changed since scenes of poll workers looking at punch cards dominated television in the 2000 election aftermath. Florida outlawed those punch cards and later non verifiable electronic machines. Secretary of State spokesperson Jennifer Davis says the law is specific on close elections.

“What happens is that during a machine recount,” she says, “they sort sort out all the over votes and undervotes, and then for the manual they would make sure the over really did vote for more than one candidate and that the undervotes are truly an undervote and that they didn’t vote for anyone in that race.”

One difference from the debacle of 2000 and this 2010 election, is that this time, everything is working the way it is supposed to work…so far. Secretary of State Dawn Roberts told reporters at an election briefing that “I think Florida is in good shape.”

Whether the vote in any race is close enough to trigger a recount…a late night is almost certain before all results are known.

The Second Congressional District here in Florida is one of four Florida seats the National GOP targeted in their attempt to take over Congress. The seat stretches between Panama City and runs east of Tallahassee. Democrat Allen Boyd has held the seat since 1996, and says this is the toughest race he has ever seen.

“If we get large turnouts, and folks come and express their views about their vision for the country, that’s all we can ask for'” say Body.  ”We’ve done our best to deliver our message, about what we tried to do in the past and where we think we need to go from here, and ah, if the people speak, I’ll be contented.”

Challenging Boyd is Steve Southerland, a Panama City Funeral Director, who is making his first run for elective office.

There are more than 300-thousand college students in Florida and many of them won’t vote tomorrow. Voter turnout groups are trying to rally students to the polls. As Whitney Ray tells us, technology may be key to reaching 18 to 29 year old voters.

FSU Sophomore Lizzie Solonari spent Monday asking her classmates to vote. She mostly got nos and Apathetic stares, but a few students signed a pledge promising to vote on Election Day.

“You have an obligation and that is to get out and vote. That’s really part of who you are as an American,” said Stephen Oleszek.

“If we want to be able to make our voice heard we have to start voting,” said Joshua Childs.

About 100 students promised to vote. They signed pledges complete with their cell phone numbers. FSU Public Interest Research Group sponsored the voter turnout drive and will send text messages reminders to students. PIRG says the messages increase the likelihood that a student will vote by four percent.

“Obviously text messaging is really popular for young voters. Young people in general so it’s an effective tool for contacting the young voters and getting the message across,” said Solonari.

Young people voted in record numbers in 2008, helping deliver the Whitney House to President Barack Obama, but appetites are changing and midterm elections are generally not as popular or inspiring as Presidential Elections.

Many college students think they can’t vote in their college town because they are registered in their hometown, but if you are registered anywhere in Florida you can update your address at the polls on Election Day before casting a ballot.

Dozens of seats in Congress are expected to switch hands, marking a historic upheaval in how the country is governed, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, when it comes to the state legislature, change is unlikely.

Congress could see four or five dozen seats change hands. Florida Democrats could lose as many as five seats to the GOP.

While change is sweeping the congress, there is very little changing here at the state capitol. Republicans have been in control for more than a decade and they’re going to keep commanding majorities.

One key reason for the lack of change is the way House and Senate districts are drawn. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters is hopeful that voters will say yes to Amendments 5 and 6 on Tuesday, because they say it will make line drawing fairer.

“Right now you have districts that go from one side of the state across Lake Okeechobee to the other side of the state. I don’t think you would be able to keep districts like that if amendments 5 and 6 pass,” Marilyn Wills, President of the Florida League of Women Voters said.

Opponents are fighting back with this TV spot.

“Five and six would devastate our democracy.”

Wills also said she got a robo call from opponents that was an outright lie.

Polling suggests the amendments have a chance. During early voting last week, we found voters who were both informed and unsure of the amendments.

“I wish that when they put these amendments on the ballot, that they speak plain, everyday language,” voter Dedra O’Neal said.

In addition to Amendments 5 & 6, voters will also get a say on public financing of campaigns, property taxes for veterans, growth, and class size.

If you would like more information on all of the Amendments on Tuesday’s ballot you can go to our website and click on “A Voters Guide to the Amendments”. published by the League of Women Voters.

Calls for Democrat Kendrick Meek to bow out of the US Senate race so Republican Marco Rubio doesn’t win are coming from party leaders and maybe even the White House. Governor Charlie Crist, an Independent candidate for Senate, won’t name names but insists a White House staffer told him Meek had agreed to step aside and endorse him. As Whitney Ray tells us, Meek denies the claims and the White House remains mute on the issue.

Early Friday morning Governor Charlie Crist was in Panama City Beach serving breakfast to supporters, during his first of four campaign stops. His panhandle tour follows a night filled with controversy.

Crist says former President Bill Clinton and the Obama administration brokered a deal with Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race and endorse him. But even if Meek did step aside, at this point it might not matter.

“I’m not going to get into the back and forth about it. I think it’s been well reported. The story that’s out this morning, it’s true, it’s accurate and I’m going to be focused on the next four days, getting the message to the people of Florida about commonsense versus nonsense in Washington,” said Crist.

From Panama City Crist boarded his bus and headed west to Destin. The polls show Crist gaining ground but still down by seven. If he could siphon off half of Meek’s supporters between now and election day he could win.

Another obstacle facing Crist is his position on the ballot. He’s near the bottom at number nine. His main opponent Marco Rubio is number one. And Crist honed in on Rubio during all four of his campaign stops.

“This guy Marco Rubio literally wants to overturn Roe Vs. Wade as it relates to a woman’s choice, doesn’t support stem-cell research which I find unconscionable,” said Crist.

Crist’s tour ends in his home town of St. Petersburg Sunday. He hopes the weekend of travel will be enough to pull off a come from behind win in the three way contest. This morning in Palm Beach Gardens Marco Rubio kicked off his three day bus tour. Meanwhile Meek is busy fighting back rumors that he has plans to pull out. Both Meek and now Bill Clinton deny ever talking about stepping aside and endorsing Crist.

Trailing by four points in the polls, Republican Candidate for Governor Rick Scott is taking his message on the road to rally his base. Scott was in the Panhandle today talking to Republican voters.

His first stop was in Panama City Beach where he and dozens of his supporters rallied at a Dunkin Donut shop. Scott bought a donut shop when he was just 21 years old and his business career skyrocketed from there. Scott admits that his plan to create 700-thousand jobs in seven years is a tall order but says with the right vision, it can be done.

“We don’t have an income tax. We are a right to work state. We’ve got beautiful beaches and beautiful weather. We have the expansion of the Panama Canal, the expansion of the economies in Central and South America so we should be number one,” said Scott.

Scott wants to eliminate the corporate income tax and lower property taxes by 19 percent. His Opponent Democrat Alex Sink calls his plan unrealistic and says it would lead to serve cuts in critical governmental services. Sink’s plan to create jobs focuses more on tax credits and incentive programs to business that create Florida jobs.

Time is running out for people trying to get money from BP for damage caused by the company’s oil spill. Ken Fienberg, the man in charge of paying claims, was in Tallahassee today to discuss a log jam of claims and warn people of the looming November 23rd deadline. As Whitney Ray tells us, after the 23rd people will be asked to accept a lump sum payment and wave their right to sue or prepare for a court battle.

Under fire for a backlog of claims, Ken Feinberg, the man in charge of a 20 billion dollar BP fund, says he expects criticism.

“I have a thick skin and a backbone,” said Feinberg.

For the next three hours members of Florida Oil Spill task force peppered the claims czar with questions and critiques.

“For every one customer who is happy you have two that are unhappy,” said Bill Steward with the Attorney General’s office.

300 thousand claims have been filed. Two in three haven’t been paid. Feinberg says many of them lack documentation.

“This is a real problem,” said Feinberg.

Feinberg says a flood of claims flowing in since October 1st has bogged down the system. He questions the validity of some of the new claims as the deadline to file approaches.

Floridians have until November 23rd to file an emergency claim. After that claimants will be asked to accept a lump sum payment and agree not to sue BP.

Claimants will have three years to make up their minds, but experts say the effects of the oil spill on the fishing industry may not be realized for decades. Feinberg says it’s a decision every fisherman will have to examine closely.

“I’ll do the best I can in calculating long term damage and leave it up to each claimant to decide whether or not to take that check,” said Feinberg.

But lump sum payments are the furthest thing from some people’s minds, because some Floridians who suffered financial damage still haven’t received a dime from BP.

To help with the backlog of claims, Feinberg plans to hire Floridians to handle Florida cases, put more information on the internet, and give claimants a case manager so they don’t have to deal with a different person every time they call.

Independent candidate for US Senate Charlie Crist is closing the gap, but is still seven points behind Republican Marco Rubio, according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll.

The survey shows Rubio getting 42 percent of the vote, Crist with 35 and Democrat Kendrick Meek with 15 percent. Quinnipiac Pollster Peter Brown says Crist is stealing votes from Meek.

“Obviously the fewer people who vote for Kendrick Meek the better off Crist is in the senate race. The question is, can he move enough people from Meek to himself to overtake Rubio. That’s a tall order with a handful of days left in the campaign,” said Brown.

The poll show Alex Sink leading Rick Scott 45 to 41 in the race to be Florida’s next governor. Two weeks ago the same poll showed Sink losing by one.

“The governor’s race is still to be decided. It’s a statistical tie. Obviously this was taken before the debate and whatever implications the rest of the debate has on voters views,” said Brown.

Brown says Scott’s campaign is using the debate cheating scandal to try to build distrust for Sink.

“If they can get voters to reconsider their presumption that she is the more honest of the two, she is the more candid of the two, then potentially that can help Mr. Scott,” said Brown.

The polls says 11 percent of voters are undecided in the governor’s race and 9 percent will consider switching their vote before next Tuesday.

One Florida supervisor of elections has had it with negative campaigning. He says the negative ads are meant to keep you from voting. 10’s of million of dollars have been spent on negative TV ads this election, so as Whitney Ray tells us, the elections supervisor is fighting back on TV.

Sancho is asking all voters to do their homework before voting and to check out every negative statement made about a candidate.

If you believe the TV ads, then there are no good options this election cycle. For the past three months politicians have dominated the commercial breaks. Republicans calling Democrats tax and spend liberals, Democrats accusing Republicans of cronyism.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho has had enough of the mudslinging. He’s waging a TV war on negative ads. Sancho says the goal of negative ads is to keep your opponent’s supporters from voting.

“It’s important I think for people to recognize that they are being manipulated by candidates who don’t want them to vote,” said Sancho.

Fueling all the political mudslinging is 10s of millions of dollars. This has already been one of the most expensive elections in Florida’s history and the fundraising and spending aren’t over yet. Voters say the money and the lies are out of control.

“There are too many pressing issues that need to be addressed other than nitpicking and trying to make fun of people,” said Dedra O’Neil.

“Voters ask for that because they don’t do their homework and they don’t hold feet to the fire and they believe whatever they are told and that’s who they vote for,” said Linda Vaughn.

By the time the ads stop running and a winner is declared, the damage has already been done; and voters end up with representatives that at best have a perception problem.

Dracula and Frankenstein have been replaced. This Halloween, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the boogieman.

At least if you watch the political attack ads running against Democrats. Scott Maddox, a Democrat running for Commissioner of Agriculture is trying to flip the script. Maddox says if Pelosi is the boogieman then his Republican rival Adam Putman needs to fess up to voting with her.

“If they want to have this campaign framed in the issue of Washington DC fine. Let’s have that debate. Adam Putnam’s DC record is nothing to be proud of,” said Maddox.

Maddox went on to call out all Republicans for voting for Bush’s bank bailout before they opposed Obama’s stimulus package and says Washington has seen its share of problems under the leadership of both parties.

The Department of Defense is trying to protect veterans from themselves. Suicide rates among veterans are now higher than the general population.

More than 11-hundred US soldiers committed suicide from 2005 to 2009. That’s more than died in Afghanistan during the same period. The Department of Defense is giving Florida State University 17 million dollars to find out why the rate of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is higher than soldiers who fought in past US wars. FSU Psychology professor Thomas Joiner is heading up the research.

“Suicide rates have been somewhat lower in the military than in the general population, which make the trend that now it is starting to nudge ahead of the general population rate all the more worrisome,” said Joiner.

The research will last three years. The goal isn’t just to pinpoint the cause, but to also find a treatment.

Voters in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties now know for whom they will be voting in the Senate District 12 race. The first District Court of Appeals today reversed a lower court decision, which found Jim Norman violated ethics laws by not revealing his interest in a half million dollar house, and as MIke Vasilinda tells us, ordered the lower court to put Jim Norman’s name back on the ballot.

Jim Norman’s name was always going to be on the ballot, but for whom those votes would count has been up in the air since a judge found Norman failed to disclose his interest in a half million dollar house and ordered him removed from the ballot.

Attorney Barry Richard broke the news to Norman, that indeed those votes would be counted for him in a phone call just after noon.

“The point that they actually, technically reversed on was that this was not an eligibility requirement and you can’t add to the eligibility requirements of the constitution,” Richmond said. “However, they commented on the fact that it was filed late.”

In its ten page order, the court ruled the Constitution does not require full financial disclosure to be an eligible candidate.

During oral arguments Tuesday,

“He did not know that there was not substantial compliance until four days prior,” Kevim Ambler’s attorney, Gary Early, said.

the court spent a lot of time trying to understand what challenger Kevin Ambler knew about the lake house, and when. It concluded Ambler should have filed the challenge before the election.

That’s one of the lesson Barry Richard says should be learned from the case.

“I think the message here is if you want to challenge somebody and you know the facts, you need to do it in a timely fashion,” Richard said.

An appeal to the state’s highest court is possible, but unlikely.

“Right now we are evaluating the decision and considering our options on that,” Ambler attorney Mark Herron said.

And without a challenge, the sole power to discipline Norman moves from the courts to the State Senate next Tuesday, the day of the election.

A text message sent during last night’s debate is creating a stir in Florida’s governor’s race. Notes to candidates are banned, but during a commercial break a makeup artist showed Democrat Alex Sink a text message. As Whitney Ray tells us, it wasn’t the worst gaffe of the night.

Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott watches his rival Alex Sink like a hawk during a commercial break in Monday’s debate. A makeup artist shows sink a text message, a violation of the debate rules.

The message was from an aide. Sink swears she didn’t read it. She fired the sender.

“When I learned what had happened and got to the bottom of it I took accountability and held the person responsible for the cheating accountable and he’s no longer with my campaign,” said Sink.

But the text may not have been the worst gaffe of the night. When asked by the moderator what Florida’s minimum wage is, both candidates got it wrong.”

Scott answered $7.55 cents. Sink agreed. It’s actually $7.25. The mistake makes both candidates look out of touch, but despite the gaffe, party support hasn’t waivered. Scott’s Primary rival Bill McCollum quietly endorsed him this weekend but still won’t vouch for Scott’s checkered past.

“No comments. Nothing I said during the campaign has changed as far as the comments that I made,” said McCollum.

And it’s that record Sink is trying to exploit as the race to the finish line begins its final leg. And of course Scott is trying to link questionable business practices at Bank of America to Sink while she headed up the Florida branch. He also blames her for the pension fund losing value, even though it was one of the top performing pension funds in the country.

Candidate for Chief Financial Officer Loranne Ausley has called her opponent Jeff Atwater a coward and told him to man up and now she’s taking the fight to his back yard.

Atwater is refusing to debate Ausley, so today the tri-athlete jumped on her bike and is peddling 400 miles to Atwater’s home in West Palm Beach to call him out. In the past candidates have walked the state for votes. Ausley says the time for walking has passed.

“The problems in Tallahassee right now are far too urgent for a walk or even for a run. I want Floridians to know exactly what kind of fighter I am and I will do what ever it takes to hold politicians like Jeff Atwater accountable. If that mean biking from these capitol steps to Jeff Atwater’s backyard, so be it,” said Ausley.

Atwater’s campaign says he was prepared to debate Ausley on Univision October 21st and that Atwater attended two candidate forums that Ausley didn’t attend. And while their campaign says they’re impressed with Ausley’s physical fitness, a spokesman says being CFO takes financial fitness that they belief Ausley lacks.