BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE— Local elections officials are supporting a statement issued by their statewide association, asking candidates and elected officials to tone down rhetoric that could erode confidence in elections.
The Florida Supervisors of Elections issued a statement on Oct. 20, saying that because of misinformation and disinformation after the 2020 elections, the integrity of elections has been questioned.
“Many of us have been threatened by our fellow citizens who have been led astray by these deceptions,” the supervisors said. “Instead of idly standing by, we ask all candidates and elected officials to tone down the rhetoric and stand up for our democracy.”
Bradford Supervisor of Elections Amanda Seyfang said she nor her volunteers or staff have been threatened.
“I have not experienced that here,” she said, “but our colleagues in the state have been physically threatened.”
Seyfang also said that she has received demands for election audits, but none from local residents.
“We’ve had some from West Florida,” she said of demands for audits, “and from out of state. The wording in the emails is identical, which makes me think they came from an organization.”
Seyfang also referenced a recent statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis explaining that all elections in Florida are audited.
“We test the equipment before each election and we have after-election checks,” she said.
Union County elections chief Debbie Osborne echoed her Bradford colleague, saying that during a post-election manual audit, one precinct for one race in each election cycle is randomly selected for a hand recount.
She also said that the elections process is open to the public and that anyone can witness pre- and post-election checks.
“We do make mistakes,” Osborne said, “but I can tell you that what we have done in our county was done right.”
Osborne added that the only questions she has received from Union County residents have related to signature verification of mail-in ballots.
“The signatures are matched,” she said of the ballots. “We check and verify every signature, and if there is a problem, we are so small I can contact the voter directly.”
Osborne said that in the 2020 election, one Union County mail-in ballot was disqualified because the voter did not respond to calls from her office.
Osborne said that since the 2020 elections, public records requests have multiplied, with virtually all the requests coming from out of Florida.
She also agreed with her association’s statement that questioning the integrity of the elections process could damage the democracy.
“If you don’t have trust,” she said, “come in and watch the process.”
