ANTONACCI

make a big deal of it.

“I didn’t tell a soul. It was between me and the elections supervisor,” he said.

His parents immigrated from Italy and his dad made a career as a Marine. Antonacci was born in a military hospital near Washington, D.C., and grew up in Hialeah. He didn’t serve in the military.

“My father, who is an immigrant, liked to say he served enough time for him and his sons,” Antonacci said. “He loved the Marine Corps, but he was skeptical of wars.”

In his spare time, Antonacci likes to read biographies and histories. He also enjoys cycling and cooking — Italian dishes, of course.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel talked with Antonacci Friday about his new job.

Why do you think Gov. Scott selected you for the position?

I hope that he believes that at my previous points of service in our government, that I have performed well enough to trust me with this responsibility.

Did the governor give you any instructions or marching orders?

The same marching orders he gave me when I became state attorney [in Palm Beach County], which is go down there and do a good job.

What makes you tick?

I like public service, obviously, and big challenges in public service appeal to me. And this is a substantial challenge here.

How have your experiences prosecuting two suspended elections supervisors in front of the state Senate, including former Broward Supervisor Miriam Oliphant, shaped your understanding of how an elections office should be run?

So, I have more than a passing familiarity with the operation of elections offices, you know. At one point, 30 years ago, then more recently 15 years ago, and in the mean time I’ve represented the secretary of state [who is in charge of elections statewide]. In private practice, I represented the secretary of state during the [Gov. Jeb] Bush administration. So I’ve got, I think, a fairly good grasp on Florida election law. And the rest is implementation.

Do you know how your office will implement the registration of eligible convicted felons now that voters approved Amendment 4 in November?

I’m going to be seeking the guidance of the Florida Legislature. I have somewhat of a different insight there because of my experience as a prosecutor. And so, the constitutional amendment says that when your sentence is complete — you’ve done everything you’re supposed to do in your sentence — then you’re eligible to vote.

There’s a lot to a sentence in criminal court and, because the amendment says that, then we should be faithful to the amendment and make sure each of those individuals who seeks to register to vote, which they now can, has completed their sentence.

I’m particularly worried about restitution in criminal cases. I know during my period of prosecution, there were restitution orders entered on many, many cases. Those restitution orders require the defendant to reimburse the victim of a crime and those victims have every right to expect that that happens because the constitution requires it.

[For felons who haven’t made the restitution,] they’re not eligible [to vote].

That would be my take on it, but it’s for the Legislature to speak.

It is a big change in Florida law and when large significant changes like that occur, it’s best that executive officers have direction from our elected representatives.

Who do you have helping you with your new duties? Have you brought in anyone from outside the elections office?

I’ve not yet. I was heartened to find that we have some consultants that are experienced, conversant, etc., in our voting systems that we can rely on — I can rely on — and I will. This is my tenth day on the job and I’m in the process of evaluating everybody.

Have you talked to the former supervisor, Brenda Snipes?

I’ve not.

What about attorney Burnadette Norris-Weeks, who is representing Snipes personally now?

She had a legal services contract, which has now been terminated. The county attorney is now the official lawyer for the supervisors office.

What’s your response to concerns you might “fix” Broward County, and possibly Florida, for President Trump in 2020?

The systems that we have in place are accurate record-keepers if set up properly. I intend to set them up properly so that every eligible voter has an opportunity to vote, every eligible resident of Broward County has an opportunity to register, and that the votes are tabulated properly. And, as a professional in the business, having represented clients privately and worked in the public sector, my reputation means too

much to me to be a cheesy hack.

How do you think it went with the county commission at their meeting this week?

They’ll have to speak for themselves, but they are the policy-making body for the county and they are our funders. As funders, they should have a significant influence over how we do our jobs here. I look forward to the scrutiny that that implies. They should do that and so I’m going to work closely with them and they’re welcome to flyspeck what goes on down here.

Have you terminated any of the office’s employees so far?

Not yet … We’re in the evaluation stage right now.

Fred Bellis, Snipes’ top aide since 2004, is no longer with the elections office. Antonacci, contacted Saturday, would not discuss personnel matters or say if Bellis resigned, retired or was fired. He confirmed that Friday was the last day on the job for Bellis, 71. Bellis did not return a phone call seeking comment.

There were allegations that Dr. Snipes was fixing elections for Democrats. Any impressions on that so far?

I’ll speak to that indirectly. If the office of supervisors — as they are set up in our 67 counties — performs well, people will trust the outcome. The problem that has taken place in this office and other offices in Florida, a few other ones, is when performance lags, when the metrics are not met. For example, I’ll give you an example. When you’re not reporting every 30 minutes like you’re supposed to on election night, people get worried. And people get worried because of a concern about fraud.

Look, election fraud is a kind of theft, stealing from someone — some entity that owns something and taking it away from them — and appropriating it to somebody else. So, election fraud is a form of theft. We are human beings. We have fallen. We are frail. People know that, they sense it. They believe it and they want their systems in place to work to prevent against human frailty. The systems, as the election code operates, work well if deployed properly.

What’s your message to voters concerned their vote may not have been counted?

Some votes did not count. I’ll give you an example. We had over 3,000 votes that came in after 7 o’clock on election night. If your vote-by-mail ballot is not delivered here by 7 o’clock on election night, it does not count … There were some that were not signed. I don’t have that number.

Is there a solution?