MANATEE COUNTY – The 2024 primary election cycle is complete and the primary elections results are official. Now it’s on to the general election that concludes in November.
Supervisor of Elections Office Chief of Staff David Ballard issued this informal declaration on Aug. 29 at the conclusion of the lengthy and at times contentious canvassing board meeting that coincided with the post-election certification audit of the ballots cast in two Manatee County precincts.
The three-member canvassing board certified the Aug. 20 primary election results on Aug. 22, but the results are not considered to be official until the post-election certification audit is completed.
The uneventful audit process took approximately two hours and consisted of sealed ballots from two randomly-selected voting precincts being removed from their sealed containers and hand tabulated by elections office staff in a public setting inside the elections office in Bradenton. Precinct 209 in Palmetto and Precinct 323 in west Bradenton were the two precincts subjected to the audit, in which the hand-tabulated results matched the previous ballot scanning results with no discrepancies or rejected ballots identified.
Contentious discussion
County Judge Melissa Gould chairs the canvassing board that also includes Bradenton City Councilwoman Lisa Gonzalez Moore and Manatee County Sheriff ‘s Office General Counsel Eric Werbeck, with County Judge Renee Inman and former County Commissioner Reggie Bellamy serving as alternates.
During the Aug. 29 meeting, Supervisor of Elections appointee and defeated primary election candidate James Satcher objected to the approval of recent canvassing board meeting minutes prepared by Gould.
Presented in summary form as required by state law, Satcher said the minutes did not accurately reflect the long, detailed and nuanced discussions that took place at the canvassing board meetings. At Satcher and Ballard’s request, the audio recordings of those past meetings will be attached to the meeting minutes and detailed transcriptions of those audio recordings will be prepared.
Satcher also objected to the canvassing board retaining the legal services of the Bentley Goodrich Kison law firm. On Aug. 29, Gould noted that Morgan Bentley’s law firm currently represents the Sarasota County canvassing board and that Bentley has vast election law experience.
When voicing his objection to the board retaining Bentley’s law firm, Satcher noted that Bentley previously represented the elections office when Mike Bennett served as supervisor. He also noted that Bennett supported Scott Farrington in the recent Supervisor of Elections primary race in which Farrington defeated Satcher.
On or around Aug. 16, the canvassing board authorized Gould to secure legal representation should it be needed in the future. This occurred after Gould told Satcher, who was still a candidate at the time, that he was not allowed to participate in canvassing board meetings.
In response, Satcher obtained written guidance from Florida Department of State General Counsel Brad McVay.
In his Aug. 16 email response to Satcher, McVay cited Florida Statute 102.141, which notes the canvassing board shall include the supervisor of elections.
“The supervisor, however, shall act in an advisory capacity to the canvassing board,” according to the statute cited in McVay’s email.
In his own words, McVay’s email stated, “The law is clear you ‘shall act in an advisory capacity to the canvassing board.’ Therefore, it is your determination to make as to what is necessary to best ac t in your advisory capacity as the supervisor of elections, including but not limited to your presence within the canvassing board room. With that being said, given that you are required to serve in an advisory capacity to the canvassing board and you are also an active candidate on the primary election ballot, you will want to do your best to avoid intermingling your official duties as supervisor with that of an incumbent candidate. Consideration should be given to ways that allow you to fulfill your required duty but also ensure confidence, integrity and transparency in the process.”
When contacted on Sept. 1, Bennett told The Sun he did not participate in canvassing board meetings during election cycles in which he himself was a candidate.
On Aug. 29, Satcher said the meeting minutes did not accurately reflect the board’s request that he be removed from the canvassing board meeting room on Aug. 16.
He also asked Gould to step down from the canvassing board because he feels she has not conducted herself in an impartial manner.
“It’s sad that we’ve run so far afield from that,” Satcher said when airing his many grievances.
When declining Satcher’s request to step down, Gould said, “Mr. Satcher, one of the things that falls within the purview of the canvassing board is election integrity and everything that I do is an attempt to preserve that. That is one of the board goals and that is how I conducted myself.”
In addition to The Sun, three members of the public attended the Aug. 29 canvassing board meeting: League of Women Voters of Manatee County members Merrie Lynn Parker and Ruth Harenchar and techHouse founder and CEO Kathy Dupree. Attendees were allowed to give public input, which was done that day via handwritten comment cards.
Read aloud by Gould with no names given, one public comment card expressed appreciation for the professionalism displayed by Gould, Moore and Werbeck.
Another comment card addressed the conduct of Satcher and his staff and said, “Staff is observed to be capable and diligent. Mr. Ballard’s guidance is seen as helpful. Mr. Satcher’s behavior has been observed to be obstructive, petulant and petty.”
Clear ballot pending
The tension between Satcher and the canvassing board dates back to Aug. 6, when Gould, Moore and Werbeck unanimously ruled that Satcher could not use the Clear Ballot auditing system he purchased in late July for approximately $200,000. Satcher’s intent was to audit every ballot cast in the primary and general elections, but the canvassing board ruled the Clear Ballot system could not be used for the primary because the required pre-election testing of the system was not mentioned in the public notice for the Aug. 6 canvassing board meeting.
The lack of proper notice for the Clear Ballot system was pointed out that day by Farrington, who later defeated Satcher by 7,276 votes in the primary election.
In anticipation of using the Clear Ballot system to audit the general election ballots, the system is scheduled to be tested at the canvassing board’s Oct. 16 meeting.
Despite his primary defeat, Satcher will remain in office until Farrington’s elected four-year term begins on Jan. 7.
