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Buddy Johnson: quit yer “whining” about the purge list

The Tampa Tribune today conveniently ignores the fact that Florida’s Secretary of State essentially released every county supervisor of elections from the responsibility of using the increasingly controversial voter purge list.

Florida's top election officials conceded Tuesday that they will take no legal action to force the state's 67 election supervisors to remove nearly 48,000 voters who have been identified by the state as potentially ineligible to vote.

This means the fate of these voters, some of whom appear to have been wrongly placed on the list, will be up to the election supervisor in each county, many of whom have been hesitant so far to remove any voter from the rolls. Some supervisors have said they were unsure if they had the time or staff needed to independently verify the background of voters prior to this fall's elections, but other supervisors have moved ahead anyway.

The Tribune doesn’t question that the list will be used locally and focuses on the lack of time and other resources that burden each county elections supervisor as they attempt to make sense of the purge list.

County elections officials are under an Aug. 2 deadline to decide whether thousands of felons in the Tampa Bay area can be purged from voter lists.

That's the last date to register before the primary election Aug. 31. The next important date after that will be Oct. 4, the registration cutoff for the Nov. 2 general election.

With little guidance and no money from state elections officials, county elections supervisors are scrambling to find time and money to meet their obligations.

``We certainly were not staffed for it,'' Polk County Supervisor Lori Edwards said. ``We didn't budget for it. Nor are we skilled in investigating criminal matters.''

In Florida, convicted felons are not eligible to vote unless they petition the Office of Executive Clemency to have their rights restored.

The 2000 election stirred controversy when thousands of people who either received clemency or were not felons were purged from voters lists. President Bush won in Florida by 537 votes.

With the general election approaching, the state's 67 elections supervisors are coping with the usual preparations plus new lists of felons.

With two staff members working full time to review Polk's felon list, there won't be enough time to check every name, Edwards said.

``I won't let this eat up all our resources,'' she said.
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Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson has asked the county's clerk of court, Richard Ake, to help review the portion of the list that includes felons convicted in Hillsborough.

His staff will mail letters to felons if it is determined they are not eligible to vote. Johnson plans to advertise in local media also. Anyone who wants to challenge a decision can request a hearing, he said.

Johnson said he doesn't know what that will cost, but he expects to hire temporary employees or an outside company to help.

``It's just part of what we do,'' Johnson said. ``I think some people are whining a little bit. It's part of the job.''

Let’s all call or email Buddy (813 272-5850; voter@hillsboroughcounty.org) and whine to him about the fact that he is still planning on using this very flawed purge list of mostly black, registered Democrat voters despite the fact that he doesn’t have to. Oh, and just in case you’re wondering: Mr. Johnson is a buddy of Jeb!, having been appointed by the Governor to replace Pam Iorio when she resigned to run for Mayor of Tampa. Buddy is now in charge of the election in one of Florida’s most populous counties. The decisions he makes now may well have a huge impact in November.

Whine to Buddy Johnson: 813 272-5850 or voter@hillsboroughcounty.org