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Clark blames employees for election errors

Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark is under fire, and deservedly so, for tons of mistakes made by her office during recent elections.

Since 2000, she has lost ballots on at least two occasions, and given voters the wrong ballots to vote. She has also committed the most basic error that a person entrusted with counting votes can commit: she has miscounted and or misreported vote counts at least four times.

Patrick “Things Happen” Caddell, a member of the 3 person Pinellas canvassing board, which includes Clark, and is ultimately responsible for the vote totals which are sent to the state, seems rather awestruck by the whole voting and counting and certifying process, and he dismisses Clark’s errors as inevitable.

Clark faced criticism last week from County Chairwoman Susan Latvala, a member of the canvassing board who was not informed of the misreported results in the state and local amendments.

But Judge Patrick Caddell, the chairman of the canvassing board, said a member of Clark's staff mentioned the errors to him.

Caddell and Latvala both defended Clark on Monday, saying changes since the 2000 election have made the election process more complicated and prone to error.

"You can't have too many checks and balances," Caddell said. "But as much as I would love to slough this off on Deb and the staff, I did look at (the election results) and I did not catch it."

So the members of the canvassing board are closing ranks. Meanwhile, Clark is taking responsibility by blaming her staff, and because her elected position is, bafflingly, a partisan one, Republicans who think it would be best to have an independent audit of her office are changing their tune.

Plagued by more embarrassing mistakes, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark is punishing staff members, amending internal control procedures and vowing to provide more employee training.

Clark said Monday she is adding new checks and balances that could have prevented three errors that occurred within days of the Nov. 2 election. She also said disciplinary measures are pending for six employees. None serves in supervisory roles, and Clark declined to name the employees.

"I am accountable for everything that happens in this office," Clark said during a news conference Monday at her office. "It's my responsibility to have people on staff who will do a good job, people I can trust to complete the job. That's exactly what I'm going to do."

Two employees will face pre-disciplinary hearings with the county's personnel board, which could result in suspensions, demotions or termination, said Lori Hudson, a spokeswoman for Clark. The others will receive oral or written warnings.

In November, Clark's staff lost track of 280 ballots that were not counted until it was too late. Last week the St. Petersburg Times reported that Clark's office reported the wrong results to state officials in two referendum questions.

The three mistakes are the latest in a series of gaffes made since Clark took over the office four years ago.

But Clark, a Republican, does not intend to follow the advice of the Pinellas County Republican Party chairman, who suggested Friday that an independent group review her internal control procedures.

"At this point in time, I feel we have a handle on the situation," Clark said. "We worked through the weekend. We addressed every issue that came up."

Paul Bedinghaus, chairman of the local Republican Party, said it was just a suggestion.

"If it were me, I would call on an independent agency because it would help give the report some credibility," Bedinghaus said. "However, I have full confidence in Debbie and her staff. If she asks us to have faith in her ability to take corrective action, I think we should do that."

ERRORS ONCLARK'S WATCH

2000 - 1,400 ballots not counted, 900 ballots counted twice

2001 - Six absentee ballots misplaced for Tarpons Springs election

2002 - Voters in Lealman receive wrong ballots

2004 - 280 ballots misplaced until it was too late to count them

2004 - Staff incorrectly reports results for two referendum questions