December 04, 2004
Pinellas vote totals change yet again
You know, when we first started hearing about mistakes in vote handling in Pinellas, it seemed like nitpicking. Not that it wasn’t a serious issue, because all votes need to be counted, but it just didn’t seem to rise to the level that requires decisive action, including change. I think we’ve reached that tipping point now, though.
Today, more revelations of mishandled votes, and indications that an attempt was made to hide at least some of the errors.
Pinellas elections office knew soon after Election Day of a discrepancy in vote totals on a statewide slot machine initiative, but they didn't fully investigate for two weeks.By then, it was too late to correct the mistake.
On Friday, as details of the case became known, yet another mistake was revealed.
Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark gave the state the wrong results of a Pinellas County charter amendment, reporting that voters approved it rather than rejected it, the St. Petersburg Times learned.
Clark accepted responsibility and said she would do "whatever it takes" to restore confidence in her office.
"All I can do is apologize to the public," Clark said. "I feel I let them down. I feel they had a lot of faith in me. I feel badly because I have shaken that faith."
Until Friday, Clark had not disclosed the incorrect vote totals to the public, or even to County Commissioner Susan Latvala, a member of the three-person Pinellas canvassing board that counts and approves the votes.
Actually, Clark can do a whole lot more than apologize. She can and should resign. Immediately. She deceived public officials and the public itself. We have all been lied to about the most basic democratic process - the vote.
Citizens of Pinellas put their trust in Clark. She has broken that trust. She needs to step down.
Posted by Norwood at December 4, 2004 11:37 AM