Welcome to

The Florida Supreme Court is intervening in a battle between the state and Sarasota County, over voting procedures. A charter amendment to the County election code calls for stricter election auditing. The Secretary of State’s office said the amendment interferes with state election codes. In Wednesday’s hearing, attorney Tom Shults represented Sarasota voters, who in 2006 decided to impose audit provisions higher than those required by the state.

“The simple result of the audit is to give the commissioners and the public the opportunity to find out whether these machines, which are very expensive, are operating properly, so that’s really the purpose of the audit,” said Shults.

Peter Antonacci defended the Secretary of State’s office and said if the court rules in favor of Sarasota County, then elections would get harder to verify.

“If this ordinance were to take affect there would be chaos and confusion. Multiply that 67 times and you have a situation that’s not healthy for democracy,” said Antonacci.

The State Supreme Court took the case under advisement. There is no timetable for a decision.