Susan Bucher Resigns as SOE

Susan Bucher resigns as elections supervisor, calls removal process unfair

Susan Bucher got advice from legal counsel before she resigned.

Read about Susan... I always liked Susan but I sure didn't like the mess during the last election.

Susan Bucher suspended by Gov. DeSantis

"He appointed Wendy Sartory Link, a West Palm Beach attorney, to replace Bucher and Afghanistan War veteran Chris Anderson as Seminole County supervisor of elections."

PB County gets deadline extended

Florida election: Leon County Circuit Judge orders recount extended for PBC to Nov. 20

Read about it...

It gets crazier by the day.

No Russian collusion here--just gross incompetence

Is Online voter Registration form illegal?

Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County, has said that the new online form is against the law.

State Sen Jeff Clemens who wrote the law says, “When I wrote the law, I was concerned with making sure the registrations that were performed online weren’t treated any differently than those that were handed in on paper. So I didn’t really contemplate that they would ask for different information from online registrants.”

Register to Vote Online

PB Canvassing Board Accused of Election Audit Fraud

Once again, we have LOSERS giving Susan Bucher a hard time. She recently won re-election with 70% of the vote. Some people don't know who they're screwing around with.

A poll watcher group out of California [a whacked out state] has accused the Palm Beach canvassing board of election audit fraud. Losers love to pull this crapola.

Remember when the City of Lake Worth and Mayor Triolo gave Bucher a hard time on the General Obligation bond vote of August 26, 2014? The meeting of the City Commission which occurred on September 5, 2014, was more in the nature of an attack (unfounded and unsubstantiated on the entire electoral process and those involved in it. Bucher was even charged with possibly committing a Sunshine Law violation.

Read about it... and the latest charge by losers.

Quote of the Day - Susan Bucher on Lake Worth's bond referendum placement on the ballot

“It’s on there in accordance with the law. I don’t establish the laws and the rules. We’ve done this with them before so they should have been aware that it would be the last item on the ballot.”

~ Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections

Talking about the 30 year General Obligation Bond issue on the last page of the ballot.

The City of Lake Worth is doing everything possible to promote this bond:  a mailer to registered voters, the city manager speaking at any neighborhood association that wants him, developing a web page and bond calculator and now soliciting the help of  The Palm Beach Post to get the word out.

It is all political but the politicians are not really engaged with some not even informed until the last minute on the political mailer...the one who is engaged is the city manager who is not supposed to be political.

Yesterday's BLOWOUTS

Aside from Ric Bradshaw winning again with 65.71% (a landslide), here are a few results that I particularly like:

Property Appraiser
Dorothy Jacks

		70.35%--105,571
Shelley Vana		29.65%--44,488
			150,059

Supervisor of Elections
Susan Bucher

		76.73%--117,117
Christine Spain		23.27%--35,521
			152,638

Constitutional Amendment on Solar devices
YES

		76.72%	114,677
NO		23.28%	34,804
			149,481

Phil Donovan on ballot for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections

On the last day of filing for elective office, Phil Donovan's name appeared as a write-in candidate for the office of Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. If you recall, Phil worked for Lake Worth for 29 years as our Water Department Treatment Plant Operator.

The candidates are Susan Bucher, Christine Spain and Phil.

Drew Martin running for PB County Commission

 with Phil Donovan on the right

I called Phil yesterday to get the scoop as his name was a write-in and will not even appear on the ballot. What was he trying to achieve? Basically it boils down to forcing this election to August instead of November, a campaign strategy used by many.

Lake Worth getting ready for March 2016 Election

Comment Up

Our next election will be held on March 15, 2016.  It will cost the city of Lake Worth the same amount as last year, $36,400. As previously reported, all three incumbents have reapplied and will run again for reelection:  Scott Maxwell in District 1, Mayor Pam Triolo and Andy Amoroso District 3.

Tonight this resolution 56-2015 is on Consent Agenda agreeing to the use of equipment and election services with the Supervisor of Elections as well as designate the Municipal Canvassing Board--the City clerk, the Internal Auditor and one person from the legal field, either a retired judge or attorney with knowledge of constitutional laws. Earlier in the year, Glen Torcivia chose Diana Lewis former judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit Court to be the third person on Lake Worth's Canvassing Board.

If you recall during the General Obligation Bond Referendum on August 26, 2014 where the city lost by 25 votes, there was an uproar within the city government and bad feelings developed between the City and Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections. Bucher was a part of the Canvassing Board.

Our city complained about this referendum being defeated, losing by 50.40% of the vote, and went after Susan Bucher, poll volunteers and those at some of our precincts for not counting 14 votes because of various issues like not signing their ballot. Also the city didn't like having to pay a charge of $400 for copies and refused to pay the SOE's legal fees.

So later, Bucher said "get lost" and the city developed its own canvassing board. I would be a lot happier if Susan Bucher was part of that board.

Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County - Even complaints are political

Comment Up

It's always the cities that have referendums whose results are unpopular with city governments that give Supervisor of Elections, Susan Bucher, a hard time.  Now it's Palm Beach Gardens.  David Levy, councilman, has never seen a development project he didn't like and certainly term limits are something for which he did not advocate. Lots of politicians want to be in there for life--it's more difficult voting out an incumbent.  Unfortunately, the voters thought differently in PBG and voted in term limits by 79%. Now Palm Beach Gardens is balking at the supervisor's bill for this election.

The last time, it was Lake Worth and the General Obligation Bond. Lake Worth didn't balk at the cost which at the time was estimated to be approximately $5,500 as the majority of the expenses were borne by the County Supervisor of Elections as there were several candidates and another issue on this August 26, 2014 primary election. But our city complained about this initiative being defeated, losing by 50.40% of the vote, and went after poll volunteers and those at some of our precincts for not counting 14 votes because of various issues like not signing their ballot. Also the city didn't like having to pay a charge of $400 for copies and refused to pay the SOE's legal fees.

When elections go their way, especially city backed initiatives, there are never any complaints about the Supervisor of Elections Office by any city government for anything.

The SOE chooses our voting locations

An excerpt from Wes Blackman's blog. A reader of my blog called me today with this interesting observation: if Lake Worth is "cracking down on Christianity" then why are so many voting locations in Lake Worth at churches and religion-friendly locations? Note the highlighted voting locations on a flyer from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. Blackman was taking pot shots at the Common Ground Church and posed certain questions on his blog, trying to bait the pastor.

The answer is:   The Supervisor of Elections is in charge of voting locations within the municipalities. The city, however, can notify the SOE about combining precincts thus eliminating a location.

Don't forget to vote!

Lake Worth requests Special Election

Pam:

I find it unfortunate that we are unable to conduct the City of Lake Worth's Special Election on May 12, 2015 while we are working on the Village of North Palm's Special Election. 

As you are aware, it takes months for our office to prepare for any election. Because this is an off election year, we have many maintenance and other projects already on our calendar.

We have looked at our calendar for Aug. 25, 2015, and our key personnel will not be available during that week; therefore, please provide an alternate date. Thank you.



On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 11:41 AM, Pamela Lopez wrote:
The City is requesting consent for an August 25, 2015 Special Election.  To move it 3 months earlier is not realistic for us.   

From: Susan Bucher [mailto:susanbucher@pbcelections.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 11:15 AM
To: Pamela Lopez; Charmaine Kelly; Jeff Darter; Tony Enos
Subject: Special Election

Pam:

Unfortunately, we have been notified that a Councilman from North Palm Beach has passed away and they will require a Special Election on May 12, 2015.

I am in receipt of your request of February 13, 2015 requesting consent for an August 25, 2015 Special Election.

Since we will be making our books available on May 12th for North Palm Beach, and there is plenty of time for noticing, would the City of Lake Worth consider having their Special Election on May 12, 2015, in order to minimize your costs and share expenses with North Palm?


--
Susan Bucher
Palm Beach County
Supervisor of Elections
(561) 656-6200

Susan Bucher has a memory like an elephant

Comment Up

It was a two hour meeting that should have lasted only an hour.  Commissioner McVoy changed that when he complained that he had not been recognized by Mayor Triolo prior to the vote, (who now has the distinction of being the biggest bully on the dais with John Szerdi coming in at second place). He wanted to pull two items for discussion that were on the Consent Agenda. The prevailing vote can bring it back and that's what the Vice Mayor did with a vote of 5/0.  Glad he did, as it was the only thing on the Agenda that was interesting other than Greg Rice's Planning & Zoning report. But wait a moment--the mayor totally forgot the Electric Utility portion of the Agenda which is placed near the end of the meeting and poor Clay, the Utility Director, waited there for two hours to speak.  So, it probably would have been a much longer meeting after all.

The city wants to amend the city canvassing board as Susan Bucher will not be a party to that service for Lake Worth that she provides to all the other municipalities.  Gee, do you think it had anything to do with the city's demands after the general obligation bond vote this past August and treating her like an ogress?  Did it have to do with the city, in its outrage for losing the election, looking to find fault anywhere it could even going so far as to have citizens bring in their horror stories as to why they could not vote? The State said that the 14 provisional ballots should have been counted in that election and Glen Torcivia, city attorney, told Bucher that the city would not pay the cost of her legal fees. Lake Worth also demanded copies of documents that the SOE wanted to charge $400 for and the city balked.  The city also suggested that the Canvassing Board (Bucher and two county Judges) were in violation of Florida Sunshine Law, allegations that were unproved and unfounded. Or maybe it was the icing on Bucher's cake when Bornstein called her "condescending."

On January 6, 2015, the City Commission approved Resolution No. 02-2015 designating the City’s Canvassing Board and amended agreement with Susan Bucher's office for vote processing equipment use and election services believing that all was well with the SOE and it would be business as usual--forgive and forget. Shortly after the Supervisor of Elections received the agreement from Lake Worth, the City received word that Bucher was declining to serve on the Lake Worth City’s Canvassing Board.

So, the city manager was forced to come up with its own canvassing board. His suggestion was that it should be comprised of  the City Clerk or her designee, Community Redevelopment Agency Chairperson or his designee, and an attorney practicing law in Palm Beach County or his/her designee. Commission McVoy suggested the city clerk, our Internal Auditor and an attorney or a retired judge with Vice Mayor Maxwell suggesting a retired judge with a Constitutional law background.  McVoy's suggestion passed on a 5/0.

Supervisor of Elections Office to get more money

Comment Up

On CONSENT AGENDA:
The Supervisor of Elections office is upping its charge to Lake Worth in 2015--

from an estimated cost of $11,019 in 2014 to $14,252 in 2015 for a medium size city. This fee only includes the cost to the County Supervisor of Elections for equipment use and election services as defined in the agreement.
An additional cost for poll worker payroll, precinct rentals, ballot translations, ballot printing, advertising,
precinct security, and election day equipment delivery is estimated at approximately $15,725. Staff has
estimated and budgeted expenses not to exceed $30,000 to conduct a Municipal General Election.

The City of Lake Worth shall conduct its annual Municipal General Election on Tuesday, March 10, 2015, pursuant to the City Charter, Article III, Section 2; and WHEREAS, if necessary, the City of Lake Worth shall conduct its Run- Off Election on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, pursuant to the City Charter, Article 24 V, Section 4

Provisional Ballots should have counted

Comment Up

So says Tallahassee:  "Legally cast provisional ballots must be counted even if an election worker fails to fill out a form properly."  Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County, demanded a formal opinion; she got it; she lost.

Read about it here...

The State agreed with Bucher when she said that the secrecy of the ballot could not be violated but in the State's opinion, "the error did not rise to a high enough level to offset the law requiring properly cast provisional ballots to be counted." There were 14 provisional ballots in Lake Worth that were cast aside from the August 26, 2014 election. That was our city attorney's opinion all along. The City has said it will not pay Bucher's legal fees.

Voter's Rights and Responsibilities

Comment Up

As we have the general election coming up in just a few weeks, this is a reminder of the few glitches we had in the primary on the mini-Ipad equipment. This year, the county spent $1.3 million to buy and program 2,700 mini-iPads for use at its approximately 450 polling places. The Supervisor of Elections and the vendor had the problem totally fixed by 11am. Problems mostly incurred in voting precincts that handled more than one precinct.


FLORIDA STATUTES

VOTER’S BILL OF RIGHTS

Each registered voter in this state has the right to:

1. Vote and have his or her vote accurately counted.
2. Cast a vote if he or she is in line at the official closing of the polls in that county.
3. Ask for and receive assistance in voting.
4. Receive up to two replacement ballots if he or she makes a mistake prior to the ballot being cast.
5. An explanation if his or her registration or identity is in question.
6. If his or her registration or identity is in question, cast a provisional ballot.
7. Written instructions to use when voting and upon request oral instructions in voting from elections officers.
8. Vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or any other person
9. Vote on a voting system that is in working condition and that will allow votes to be accurately cast.

VOTER RESPONSIBILITIES

 Each registered voter in this state should:
1. Familiarize himself or herself with the candidates and issues
2. Maintain with the office of the supervisor of elections a current address.
3. Know the location of his or her polling place and its hours of operation.
4. Bring proper identification to the polling station.
5. Familiarize himself or herself with the operation of the voting equipment in his or her precinct
6. Treat precinct workers with courtesy.
7. Respect the privacy of other voters.
8. Report any problems or violations of election laws to the supervisor of elections.
9. Ask questions, if needed
10.  Make sure that his or her completed ballot is correct before leaving the polling station.

 NOTE TO VOTER: Failure to perform any of these responsibilities does not prohibit a voter from voting. (3) Nothing in this section shall give rise to a legal cause of action. (4) In case any elector, after entering the voting booth, shall ask for further instructions concerning the manner of voting, two election officers who are not both members of the same political party, if present, or, if not, two election officers who are members of the same political party, shall give such instructions to such elector, but no officer or person assisting an elector shall in any manner request, suggest, or seek to persuade or induce any elector to vote for or against any particular ticket, candidate, amendment, question, or proposition. After giving the elector instructions and before the elector has voted, the officers or persons assisting the elector shall retire, and such elector shall vote in secret. History.—s. 40, ch. 4328, 1895; s. 12, ch. 4537, 1897; GS 225; RGS 270; CGL 326; s. 1, ch. 25106, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; ss. 10, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 25, ch. 77-104; s. 13, ch. 77-175; s. 31, ch. 79-400; s. 60, ch. 2001-40; s. 5, ch. 2002-17; s. 22, ch. 2005-277. Note.—Former s. 99.24.

A Pitbull in Heat

Comment Up

Lake Worth and its legal team has its tentacles out all over the place still attempting to put a damper and cast doubt on Lake Worth's recent election. They like to "win the game" no matter who they step on--the Supervisor of Elections and two judges and even verbal set-ups of residents who opposed them. The city is sort of like a pitbull in heat taking the lead from the commission and its attorney.

The Palm Beach Post, the most accommodating and liberal newspaper in Florida, is agreeing with the Lake Worth City Commission that it needs to tax and spend and to get every property owner in debt for 34 years. They call the recent election voter "repression." You have to be kidding me.

Even if all 14 provisional ballots had been counted, the city STILL WOULD HAVE LOST. Out of 3,115 votes, 14 were rejected because of error. This is less than one-half of one percent and yet Lake Worth had the highest voter turnout in the County.

Read about it... at the Palm Beach Post.

Our Election and the Human Error Factor

Comment Up

Poll worker errors "disenfranchised" 14 voters, said yesterday's Palm Beach Post article. One poll worker has been fired but we don't know if it was only because of an error in filling out the outer envelope or telling voters that "everyone is voting for the bond." What happened at the Oasis polling precinct? Where were the other precincts that had problems and what were they? I had read in an earlier report that there were a few voters who put down the WRONG PARTY AFFILIATION. Don't people know their Party? It's like, gee today I love Allen West and tomorrow I am supporting Bernie Sanders? Nothing is surprising in Lake Worth.

I know that a lot of people vote early and hundreds vote by absentee.  Personally I like to vote on the day of the election and drop my completed ballot in the box to ensure that it got counted. I have always been cognizant of possible human error when I let go of my ballot or mail it in.

There were only two incidents at my precinct and by 8:30 I got to vote.  Sometimes you just have to have a little patience when new equipment is involved. Everyone had the opportunity to vote.  No one was disenfranchised.

When you are speculating on disenfranchisement and possible mishaps from a piece of equipment or a new system as we had on August 26th, then the cause could be human error. Human error has to be quantified and it is more specific than just a mistake. It may also be incorrect installation or a manufacturing defect or a slew of other possibilities. Rarely do we get an unqualified poll worker but humans make mistakes. We had 3,115 votes cast and only 30 provisional ballots were cast with 14 rejected because of poll worker error. That's a low margin of error. The Supervisor of Elections had this equipment malfunction corrected by 8:30. Don't we, too, have to take responsibility for our vote?

Read about it...

Torcivia to Spillias - Tit for Tat -

Comment Up

"I am not aware of anyone at the City Commission meeting taking issue with the composition of the county Canvassing board or the reputation of the County judges serving on the Board," said city attorney Glen J. Torcivia. He still brings up Sunshine Law issues he feels were violated.

Let's put more billable hours into this. "We're right, you're wrong."

Read more here...