More questions on Florida elections despite assurances
In a recent column I warned that we needed to act to protect our elections against enemies foreign and domestic. It was not my intention to sound alarmist but rather to express my sincere concern for the integrity and fairness of our elections.
Since that column appeared I have heard from a U.S. attorney in one of Florida’s districts, several supervisors of elections, a representative from one of the election machine vendors I mentioned and quite a few readers.
The latest to weigh in was Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee, who sent a rebuttal of my column to at least one newspaper where my column appeared.
Wow, that really went to the top in short order.
Secretary Lee was fairly respectful in her carefully worded response. She was firm in her denials of election system vulnerabilities and touted all that has been done to make Florida’s elections safe. I’d like to believe her but I still have my doubts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Lee as Florida’s top election official in late January 2019 after his first appointee resigned after less than a month in office. Prior to her appointment, Lee served as a judge for Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.
I don’t doubt that she is capable but it’s also fair to point out she had no prior election administration experience and has been in the position for a very short time — roughly six months.
Florida has been in the spotlight nationally for our extremely close elections and recounts. I was in the Florida House in 2000 when the Bush v. Gore election was too close to call in Florida. Bush ended up winning Florida by a mere 537 votes.
It’s also important to point out that Rick Scott was elected governor twice in 2010 and 2014 in extremely close elections, winning both by pluralities — not majorities — with 48.9 and 48.1 percent of the vote.
In 2018 DeSantis was declared the winner of the governor’s race by fourtenths of one percent of the vote, beating Andrew Gillum 49.6 to 49.2 — also a plurality.
And in an even closer race, Rick Scott was named the winner of the U.S. Senate seat after a recount that showed him beating U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson by thirteen-hundredths of one percent of the vote — only 50.06 to 49.93 percent.
Almost immediately after the election results were certified, outgoing Gov. Rick Scott removed the duly elected Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes and put his go-to guy Peter Antonacci — who had no election administration experience — in charge of one of the largest elections offices in the state.
These close races illustrate why Florida has to make certain that our elections are shown to be accurate — slight variations can affect the outcome.
Perhaps Secretary of State Lee responded so forcefully because other recent activity has come to light that could further erode confidence.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress that Russia and other foreign actors are actively interfering now in preparation for our 2020 elections.
FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed that Russians are absolutely intent on election interference.
A U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report finds that all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016 and were largely undetected by officials at the time.
The bipartisan Senate report also indicated that Florida officials struggled to manage their cyber security and failed to heed multiple warnings as Russian hackers attacked electoral systems throughout the state and successfully breached two counties in 2016.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to take up a bipartisan election security bill.
While Secretary of State Lee tried to assure us, I still have questions.
Do any of the vendors have remote access to the voter data? Can they change anything such as name, address, party affiliation or whether they requested an absentee ballot? Can they remove a voter from the rolls?
If intrusions weren’t detected in the past, how can we be assured they will be detected now?
Can a bad actor in a SOE’s office manipulate votes or voter data and go undetected?
Have all outdated systems been replaced? Was there enough money to adequately fund the needs of all 67 counties?
Do any of the vendors on the state’s certified list have foreign ties? Have any of them contributed to a political party or candidate that has decision-making authority in our voting systems?
Trust is a rare commodity in our government right now, while partisanship is at an all-time high.
This is too important to ignore in Florida and nationally. Consider this an ongoing endeavor as I seek answers.
Paula Dockery is a syndicated columnist who served in the Florida Legislature for 16 years as a Republican from Lakeland. She is now a registered NPA.