NAPLES — Gov. Rick Scott cast one of the first ballots at St. Ann’s Jubilee Center in downtown Naples this morning with his grandson and daughter in tow.

Precinct 477 was quiet around 7 a.m. with just a handful of voters stopping by before and immediately after Scott, who noted that this year marked an increase in absentee and early voters who sent their ballots in before today’s primary in Florida.

“He’s never been to a voting booth,” Scott said of 9-month-old Auguste Guimard, who regarded TV news cameras skeptically before reaching out to grab at a microphone.

Scott would not say who he voted for in this year’s congressional races but did say he supported presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s choice for a running mate.

“I think Paul Ryan’s a great pick,” he said. “There’s going to be a clear choice this fall between a president where jobs haven’t come back and Romney who has a clear plan.”

Scott said he and his wife, Ann, have both been asked to serve as Florida delegates in this year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa this month.

“The convention will be a lot of fun,” he said, adding that he’s also been asked to be a speaker. “I’ll get to talk about how great Florida is and how we’re getting Florida back to work,” Scott said

Unlike some of his previous times at the ballot box, the Republican governor got through his Tuesday voting experience without incident.  In 2006, Scott–who has sought to purge ineligible voters from the registration rolls– was told the voter rolls listed him as dead, and therefore he wasn’t eligible to cast a ballot, the Miami Herald reported in June.

Later that same year, Scott had to vote provisionally because he had again been falsely listed as dead.

–Kristen Gill

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