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Caliente Resort Wants Clothing-Optional Polling Place

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2008

LAND O’ LAKES - Whether they're cooking, cleaning, watching TV or playing tennis, nudists like to be nude.

Same goes for voting.

People at the upscale, clothing-optional Caliente Resorts off U.S. 41 want to establish the first clothing-optional polling place in the country. Most voters who live at Caliente exercise their rights at a nearby subdivision, where clothing isn't optional.

There's no concrete data on how many nudists live in the area, but state Sen. Victor Crist has estimated that Pasco County has 12,000 "nude votes."

The resort wants to make it easier for Caliente residents and members of the surrounding nudist community to vote, said Caliente spokeswoman Angye Fox.

"The wheels are in motion," she said.

That might be true, but they are turning slowly.

Caliente officials say they have shared the idea of a clothing-optional polling place with Brian Corley, Pasco County's supervisor of elections. But Corley said he isn't willing to consider opening additional sites until after the 2010 redistricting.

Officials with the American Association for Nude Recreation, which provides lobbying and marketing efforts to about 260 member resorts, said they know of no clothing-optional polling places in the United States. Caliente is not an AANR member.

State law wouldn't prohibit a clothing-optional polling station, said Jennifer Davis, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office.

"That would be up to the local supervisor," she said.

Corley has more pressing concerns these days, though – such as preparing for Tuesday's election.

"It's just too premature to even consider," Corley said. "The only polling places I'm interested in right now are the ones [being added] out of necessity."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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