Palm Beach County's elections chief is ready for first trial

By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel 
Posted March 7 2005

Two months after taking over an elections office whose previous chief he denounced as incompetent, Arthur Anderson is confident Tuesday's voting will come off without a hitch.

Though he's a retired professor of education from Florida Atlantic University, Anderson does not view Palm Beach County's 18 city, town and village elections as a test.

"I don't consider it a test. I'm simply doing the job that the public elected me to do. I don't truly relate to the notion of being tested," he said.

Whether Anderson relates to it, even his supporters view Tuesday as a test of sorts.

"This is a pretty big run for him," said Richard Giorgio. The Democratic political consultant has clients on the ballot this week and helped orchestrate Anderson's 2004 defeat of former Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore.

It's not, however, like the FCAT's role in high school graduation or the SAT's role in college admission. Unlike big, countywide elections, municipal clerks are responsible for much of the work for local contests.

Most of the 18 have only one or two contests, in contrast to the dozens of contests with varying district lines that result in multiple permutations of the ballot, which greatly increase the complexity and chances for error. And turnout will be minuscule compared to the hundreds of thousands who vote in a big election.

Still, with dozens of polling places, there is a potential for problems, said Blake MacDiarmid, a Republican political consultant who has clients in Tuesday's election. He supported LePore's re-election.

MacDiarmid suggested Anderson would get a pass for any glitches in equipment, signs and records that people cited as evidence of LePore's alleged incompetence.

"He will be given the benefit of the doubt by people who would not give Theresa the benefit of the doubt. That's good for him and unfortunate for her," he said.

Until now, Anderson hasn't had much chance to make major changes.

After Tuesday, Anderson said he intends to focus on his goals to get voting systems the public will have confidence in; improve voter registration, especially in minority communities; enhance employee training, and form partnerships with educational institutions.

One thing that he said absolutely would not happen is a housecleaning of holdover LePore employees.

"Rubbish. Rubbish. Rubbish. I think I have a very fine staff," he said. "I'm pleased to have them and every day we're becoming more like family that's not a dysfunctional family either."

Anderson said his approach of employee empowerment would produce better-run elections. He said he's formed internal committees, started holding regular staff meetings, and plans both an employee of the month program and an employee newsletter.

Some employees were apprehensive about the new boss, but have turned around.

George Pardo was a security guard at the main Elections Office 13 months while LePore was supervisor. He's worked at the county Governmental Center for the past 17 months, so he doesn't have a vested interest in currying favor with Anderson.

Pardo said he's heard positive reports from former coworkers. "They're happy over there."

A management team runs the office. Three of the five members are senior employees who worked for LePore. One is his administrative assistant, who coordinated volunteer efforts for Anderson's election campaign. And the fifth is Anderson.

Anderson's getting good reviews from unexpected quarters.

"I have good things to say," said Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the county Republican Party. He and fellow party leaders supported LePore's re-election.

Dinerstein predicted some Democrats who supported Anderson's election would be surprised when they discover he isn't a pushover. "He doesn't feel he owes anyone but the voters in his county to do the best job and the most honest job that he can do," he said.

Joan Joseph, executive director of the county Democratic Party, said operations in the Elections Office were rough in January, but are now running "on six of their eight cylinders."

Virginia Walton is deputy clerk in Palm Springs, which has an election Tuesday.

"The whole thing, I think, has gone quite smoothly so far," she said, adding a caveat. "He just took office in January. It's just too soon to give an accurate critique."

Anderson received accolades from Susan Van Houten, a leader of the Coalition for Election Reform, most of whose members opposed LePore and supported Anderson.

Van Houten said he's doing a good job so far, though she's waiting for action on her group's top priority, a paper trail to verify the accuracy of the electronic voting machines.

After Tuesday, Anderson said he and his team would turn to preparing a budget request for the County Commission. At the top of the list is more office and warehouse space and money for printers to attach to the electronic voting machines.

County Administrator Bob Weisman said he's aware that there's a space squeeze at the main Elections Office, even though the building is only a few years old.

Anderson said it would only get worse. Because of population growth, he said the county would have to buy hundreds of additional voting machines before 2006.

Anderson said printers might cost $4 million. He said approval doesn't mean he'd spend the money, but he'd like it allocated if the right equipment becomes available.

Until printers are certified by the state, meaning they could be legally used on the county's voting machines, Weisman said he "would probably not" recommend the County Commission approve the spending.

An "auditable paper trail" for the voting machines was a central plank of Anderson's campaign. He said if better technology to ensure accuracy is developed, he'd be open to it.

Though LePore said elections were not vulnerable to malfunctions or tampering, Anderson isn't so sure.

"It's foolhardy for people to maintain there's no problem whatsoever. [There are] a lot of clever minds in the world," he said. "Although some maintain there's no concern that the equipment could be tampered with or rigged or what have you, they also said the Titanic couldn't sink."