The state attorney's election is expected to be one of Jacksonville's most high-profile races this year, but about 440,000 registered voters in Duval, Nassau and Clay counties will not be allowed to cast ballots in the Aug. 30 primary because they are Democrats or have no party affiliation.

The election will be decided by about 320,000 registered Republicans in the 4th Judicial Circuit due to a candidate who qualified to run as a write-in in the election who appears to have had help qualifying from a senior campaign staffer of incumbent State Attorney Angela Corey.

Corey's campaign manager, Alexander Pantinakis, told Florida Politics he helped local attorney Kenny Leigh file the qualifying papers to become a candidate in his role as a Republican Party state committeeman, not as Corey's campaign manager.

Leigh and Corey essentially disenfranchised the black population in Northeast Florida, said Marcella Washington, a Florida State College at Jacksonville political science professor.

"Democrats have no primary candidates," Washington said. "The minority vote in this race will not count."

According to a voter registration database, current as of March, 96 percent of black voters in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties are not registered as Republicans.

Attorney Melissa Nelson, who filed to run against Corey as Republican, said she bumped into Pantinakis, Corey's campaign manager, on Thursday in Tallahassee while she filed her papers with the Florida Secretary of State.

Leigh became a write-in candidate the same day, with Nelson and him both being listed as candidates on the Secretary of State's website within an hour of each other.

Nelson said she did not see Leigh in Tallahassee and wondered if Pantinakis played a role in his qualifying for the election.

"I believe Kenny Leigh was designed to close the primary," Nelson said. "A prosecutor's obligation is to seek justice. There is no place for gamesmanship."

That suspicion was confirmed hours later when Pantinakis told Florida Politics he filed Leigh's papers. Pantinakis and Leigh could not be reached Tuesday for comment by the Times-Union.

Leigh, who previously donated money to Corey's campaign, told the Times-Union last week the state attorney had nothing to do with him entering the race and he didn't know who Pantinakis was.

Nelson campaign spokesman Brian Hughes pointed out that Corey previously denied having anything to do with Leigh getting into the race.

"We will let the previous denials and new information speak for themselves," Hughes said. "Whatever their reasons or tactics we are prepared to share Melissa's strong conservative record with her fellow Republicans."

Nelson, Corey and attorney Wesley White are all running for state attorney as Republicans. If they were the only three candidates in the race, all registered voters could vote in the primary.

When Leigh filed as a write-in, the election closed to everyone who was not a Republican.

The winner between Nelson, Corey and White on Aug. 30 will now appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot with a blank space next to the winner's name where voters will be able to write in Leigh's name.

White blamed Corey for closing the primary. He said she'd disenfranchised thousands of voters of color by putting up a write-in candidate.

"I'd like to see Mr. Pantinakis placed under oath, along with Mr. Leigh, to find out who actually signed what, and whether or not Corey gave her blessing," White said.

Meredith Beatrice, spokeswoman for the Florida Secretary of State, said the issue was outside her office's authority to investigate.

Beatrice cited a Florida law that said her office would review the qualifying papers, but does not have the authority to determine whether the contents of the qualifying papers are accurate.

Washington said the maneuver is a common "shell game" with both Democrats and Republicans using write-in candidates to close primaries when it suits their interests.

"It is undemocratic on its face because the write-in is a ruse and usually a confidant of one of the candidates running in the primary," Washington said.

Primaries also were closed in the public defender's race and the Clay County superintendent race so that only Republicans could vote. The write-in candidates in those races had a history of supporting incumbent Public Defender Matt Shirk and incumbent superintendent Charlie Van Zant Jr.

State Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, a Corey supporter, said the law allowing write-in candidates to close a primary needs to be reexamined by the Florida Legislature.

"I think closed primaries as a general rule are very appropriate; I think Republicans and Democrats should elect their own nominees," Bradley said. "But they're only appropriate when you have legitimate candidates for both sides."

Staff writer Andrew Pantazi contributed to this report.

Larry Hannan: (904) 359-4470