Supervisor of Elections & Her Crew Paved the Way For an Exhausting, But Trouble Free Recount
Posted November 17, 2018 04:15 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Supervisor of Elections Liz Horne and her elections crew ran the primary and recent general election trouble free. It appears that everyone that wanted to vote, voted. There were no mystically appearing ballots and when it came to the hand recount, while at times tedious and exhausting, shortly after it concluded today County Attorney and Canvassing Board Attorney Joel Foreman said in a text message, "It went well."
Attorneys, volunteers, SOE staff were all
overseeing the recount.
The Hand Recount
The hand recount does not review all ballots. Those that were not recorded by voting machines because something was crossed out, or two votes were cast in one race (an overvote), or the voter appeared to chose no candidate (undervote). The idea is to figure out the voter's intent.
Canvassing Board Attorney Joel Forman, at times seemed like he was directing traffic. The County Canvassing Board was chaired by County Court Judge Tom Coleman. County 5 Chairman Tim Murphy, or his designate (Commissioner Nash), and the Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Liz Horne were the other members.
Canvassing Board Attorney Joel Foreman
explaining folks could swap positions in the
room.
The Canvassing Board
The Canvassing Board provides the oversight to insure the integrity of the electoral process.
Canvassing Board Chairman, Judge Tom Coleman
explained everything he did. Here he peels
the seal off a box of ballots, while SOE
Horne observers.
You can learn more about the canvassing board in Florida Statute 102.141.
After opening the box, Judge Coleman held up
the ballots so everyone could see what was
in the box.
SOE Horne, Judge Coleman, and Commissioner
Nash review a ballot.
The Attorneys
Republican and Democrat attorneys were on hand to watch the process and get ready for lawsuits if necessary. It wasn't.
Volunteers and the Sheriff
Citizen volunteers were there to review ballots and help the SOE. Some members from the public were on hand to observe and Sheriff Deputies were on hand to keep an eagle eye on things. A representative from the State Attorney was also on hand.
Volunteer and community activist Christa
Pribble reviews a ballot while Deputy Joshua
Truesdale looks on.
Epilogue
When your reporter left the Supervisor of Elections Office on Friday, Willie Nelson and Jesus were tied with one write in ballot each.
Supervisor Liz Horne listens to the Chief
Republican Attorney.
Columbia County did 'good.' A pleasant change considering some of the things that go on in the County and in venues in which the County is associated.
The foundation was laid by Liz Horne and her crew and the poll workers and volunteers that supported the voting effort and the recounts.
All Columbia County can give Ms. Horne and everyone that was involved with the recount the "thumbs up" without reservation.