Questions Still Surround Orlando’s 2016 Municipal Election Plan

After five weeks, the City of Orlando has yet to respond to Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles’ concerns about the city’s municipal election plan for 2016.

“We have not yet responded to Cowles’ letter as we are researching whether the State’s change of date may impose any legal impediments or any other implications to the City’s already established date,” City spokesperson Cassandra Lafser said late last week. The established date for Orlando’s municipal election is the first Tuesday in April.

While the City may not be clear about what will happen regarding an election now less than one year away, the actual elected Supervisor of Elections is absolutely clear. In a letter to the City from Supervisor Cowles’ general counsel, “the Supervisor of Elections would be unable to properly conduct both elections, with the state-mandated Presidential Preference Primary clearly taking priority.”

The Supervisor of Elections also detailed major concerns and potential voting problems related to absentee ballots, early voting and general voter confusion. It remains unclear what the Dyer administration may still be researching after the elected Supervisor of Elections weighed in. The letter from Supervisor Cowles’ general counsel also serves as a line in the sand with little room for the Supervisor to backtrack without significant concern from voters.

The Orlando Sentinel also picked up the story two weeks ago after the news was first reported on this site.

There’s also the question of turnout: Will voters really go to the polls twice in three weeks?

“It’s a very unusual process, and the average voter is not going to respond well to this,” said Mike Cantone, a community organizer and Dyer critic who ran against him in 2012.

The Sentinel even followed up on their story with an editorial explaining “why we think Orlando’s City Council should move next year’s municipal election date,” adding even more pressure to the Dyer administration to propose a change for 2016.

Complicating matters further is the issue of time. Already, the 2016 Orlando municipal elections are scheduled to take place in less than a year. Potential local candidates are not only making campaign plans, some have already been going to the City Clerk to pick up official information since January according to an email from City Clerk Alana Brenner to the Supervisor of Elections. One candidate for City Commissioner, Alex Rivera, has already filed initial paperwork and appointed a treasurer in City District 2, the seat of incumbent Commissioner Tony Ortiz.

Now is the time to settle next year’s municipal election date.

In February, former Orange County Democratic Party Chair Doug Head described more of the background regarding the election date mess in the West Orlando News.

The City Council will need to act to ensure the integrity of the municipal election, to prevent voter confusion and to increase voter participation. It is an easy answer, but seems to be a tough pill for City Hall to swallow for some reason.

Susan says:

April 16, 2015 at 2:38 pm

Mike,

Can you help me understand how this works? Does the City HAVE to run its own elections? Or can the City request that the Supervisor of Elections run it (including selecting the date, counting the ballots, etc)? If the Supervisor of Elections does it, does the City have to pay for that? Do you know the costs of paying him vs. the City running it themselves?

The City Council is not an unbiased entity to select the date. They can vote for their own interest and move it forward making it more difficult for a challenger to run. Or they can vote in the best interest of democracy, which is not in the interest of the sitting members. BUT, if Bill Cowles picked the date, he is an unbiased third party who has a strong track record of fairness. Also, if he counted the votes (instead of having Dyer’s new appointee count them), I’d feel a lot better about the results. (not that voter fraud would ever happen in Florida, and particularly Orlando!)

Thanks for your blog. If you know the answers to these questions, I’d be most appreciative.

Mike Cantone says:

April 17, 2015 at 12:17 pm

Susan, great questions. The City is in charge of its own elections and selects its own election date, as per city code the City Clerk also serves as the “Supervisor of Elections” for Orlando (a conflict of interest as the City Clerk is appointed not elected). If the City election falls on the same day as a County (or state or federal) election, then the elected Orange County Supervisor of Elections would run the show, print and count ballots, etc. This saves the City money, between $150,000-$200,000 compared to the costs for the city to hold its elections on another date. The City did this by holding its municipal elections on the Presidential Primary in 2000, 2004 and 2008…but Dyer ended up making the city spend $150,000-$200,000 more in 2012 to move the election date and control his own re-election.

The City always does enter into an agreement with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, however, the City of Orlando under Mayor Dyer includes in their contract that City staff will open, count, sort and handle all ballots and the City is responsible for the canvassing board, led by the appointed City Clerk. The contract the City gets Supervisor Cowles to sign is shocking and disgusting when one thinks about democracy and checks and balances. In 2012, city employees on the clock for their City Hall jobs opened, counted, sorted and tabulated the absentee ballots, while zero staff from the actual Supervisor of Elections office was in the room for instance.

The sad reality is, the way it is set up, the City of Orlando does not even need to consult the elected Supervisor of Elections, Cowles, at all. In fact, the City still has not sent Supervisor Cowles anything in writing about the upcoming 2016 elections.

I agree 100% — no City staff or appointed officials should ever handle, count, sort, or tabulate any ballots. I saw first-hand the shocking and blatant conflicts and concerns orchestrated by Dyer’s manipulation of the local election process.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions a bit.

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