State vows 'something new' to ensure fair Nov. election in Palm Beach County  (FL)

MICHAEL C. BENDER    Palm Beach Post   05 September 2008

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Secretary of State Ken Browning said today that the missing ballots in Palm Beach County were an "administrative issue" and signaled the state would be intimately involved in operating the Nov. 4 election in the county.

"We're going to work with Dr. Anderson and see to it that he has a good general election," Browning said.

Palm Beach County Election Supervisor Arthur Anderson, who lost his bid for re-election in the Aug. 26 primary election, was missing 957 ballots from that election on Friday morning.

Without the ballots, the county has not been able to determine a winner of a circuit court judge race. That forced Browning, Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Elections Canvassing Commission today to note the "irregular" election while certifying results from the state's other 66 counties.

Asked if Palm Beach County needed new voting machines for the third time this decade, Crist said, "I don't think so — maybe something else new."

Browning, who was in Palm Beach County on Wednesday and Thursday to oversee the recount of the judicial race, shook his head Friday while describing the county's election operation. "You had to have been on the ground seeing first hand what we were watching," he told reporters in Tallahassee.

Browning said the county had not collected all of its voting machines from the polling places by Wednesday.

He said he offered Anderson a precise recount plan, but it was not immediately followed. Browning said Anderson "finally decided to do that today."

"This is an administrative issue," Browning said. "This is purely the mechanics of running an election."

With the general election quickly approaching - ballots must be ready to be mailed to military personnel on Sept. 20 - it appeared unlikely the state would attempt to remove Anderson from office.

The last county elections supervisor removed from office was Miriam Oliphant in Broward County. A botched primary under her watch in August 2002 led then-Gov. Jeb Bush to sign an executive order removing her from office in November 2003.

Keeping Anderson in office, however, could put the state in the delicate situation of offering assistance without taking over a local election.

"I'm confident that the voters in Palm Beach County will be able to have their ballots counted," Browning said.

Browning acknowledged the difficulty of overseeing an election, but also questioned the county canvassing board's decision this week to certify local results by signing papers with the totals left blank.

"Personally, as a member of a canvassing board, I would never sign a