Joe Scott Leads Close Race For Broward Supervisor Of Elections
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Joe Scott maintained a slight lead over his closest opponent, Chad Klitzman, in the race for Broward Supervisor of Elections.
Scott had received 51,557 (24.8 percent) and Klitzman had received 50,950 (24.5).
With a difference of 0.3 percent, Florida law provides for a machine recount, which involves re-scanning the ballots.
Joe Scott is a graduate of West Point and involved with a local technology company."
"I come from a very different background, I have never been in politics. I was an Army officer. I have been a business leader for more than a decade. I studied computers in West Point, one of the best leadership programs in the world," said Scott.
Klitzman is a Columbia Law School graduate who worked in President Obama's administration.
"At this point in time restoring confidence in the process. I maintain that we have a uniformity in process in the Supervisor of Elections Office, making sure that for every function of the office there is a corresponding procedure," he said.
In all the race was made up of seven candidates.
All have vowed to bring leadership to the once-troubled agency which has been stabilized by a caretaker since Brenda Snipes departed the office in a firestorm of criticism.
One of those running was Jennifer Gottlieb, a former chairwoman of the Broward County School Board.
"We need to make sure our technology is used to keep information safe and secure and that services are protected and know that our staff is trained and given proper support to run the elections," she said.
Oakland Park Mayor Tim Lonergan was also running.
"A lot of control, policies and procedures and instruction need to be updated. We need a quality control process in place to make sure we are auditing ourselves, measuring twice and cutting once and making sure the office is running effectively," he said.
Catherine McBreen is an attorney who specializes in internal audits of financial institutions.
"I think the most important thing is to drain the swamp. I think a clean start. We do not need to put back any of the individuals that were associated with the past in the voter fraud that occurred. I think the most important thing is to kick the tires," she said.
Another candidate was Mitch Ceasar who is well known in Broward's political circles.
"I am running for Supervisor of Elections because this is not a place for on-the-job training. You have to be ready on day one. My background is that I have been an attorney for 40 years. I have been an election expert for forty years," he said.
Ruth Carter is a 30 year corporate veteran of which 15 of those years as a human resource professional.
"This job is the business side of the election process and what I mean is five things. It is administrate, facilitate, operate, educate, and communicate to the voters of Broward County, that's what my skill set dictates. I am the person that can do this job," she said.
