An effort to move the date of Florida’s August primary is drawing mixed reviews among lawmakers and elections officials.

Citing concerns and questions, Senate Ethics & Elections Committee Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, postponed action by a subcommittee Monday on his bill (SB 1596) that would postpone the primary a week, from its scheduled Aug. 14, to Aug. 21.

Diaz de la Portilla said the proposed later date, which would also delay candidate qualifying a week until June 11-15, is aimed at giving those running in redistricted House, Senate and congressional districts more time to decide their political candidacies.

But the delay causes a host of other problems, according to some elections supervisors. Ron Labasky, lobbyist for the Florida Association of Supervisors of Election, said 22 of the 67 supervisors opposed the move — with some saying it could force them to rework contracts for polling places or cause personnel problems.

In Hillsborough County, elections officials have balked because the delay would push the primary election close to the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Security for the convention is expected to cause wide-ranging traffic problems in the city’s downtown area, Labasky told the committee.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher is among those opposing the primary delay, saying she’s having enough trouble educating voters on new laws, new districts and revised requirements without throwing in a date change.

 

As Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party considers a measure to protect incumbents from “unnecessary” primary challenges, it’s worth noting that some of the biggest local Democratic names of the last two decades were once outsiders who challenged incumbents in Democratic primaries.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler first gained office by ousting Democratic incumbent Don Childers in a 1990 state Senate primary. Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein‘s electoral debut was unseating Steve Press in a 1992 Democratic state House primary. County Commissioner Burt Aaronson won his seat by toppling Carole Phillips in a 1992 Democratic primary.

After giving up her state House seat in 1992 to pursue a failed congressional bid, Lois Frankel made a comeback in 1994 by challenging the one-term incumbent who had replaced her, former Frankel aide Mimi McAndrews, and defeating her in a memorably bitter Democratic primary.

Facing state House term limits in 2000, Addie Greene set her sights on the county commission and pushed aside veteran incumbent Maude Ford Lee in a Democratic primary.

State Rep. Irving Slosberg first gained office in 2000 by beating incumbent Curt Levine in a Democratic state House primary.

Tax Collector Anne Gannon made a failed try to defeat incumbent Suzanne Jacobs in a 1994 Democratic state House primary. Before winning his seat in 2010, state Rep. Steve Perman tried and failed to oust Richard Machek in a 2006 Democratic state House primary.

Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher won her nonpartisan office in 2008 by defeating incumbent and fellow Democrat Arthur Anderson.

UPDATE: More of the same ballot mix-ups are being reported in Palm Beach County and in Broward County, according to the state Division of Elections. There have been fewer than 10 instances reported in each county.

Oops. After the millions of dollars spent by GOP gubernatorial opponents Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum, at least two votes that could have gone their way won’t.

Two Palm Beach County Republican voters received “No Party Affiliation” ballots but reported the mix-up only after they had cast their votes, meaning they did not vote in the heated GOP primary.

The poll workers who handed out the wrong ballots were re-assigned, elections supervisor Susan Bucher said.

“I don’t know how this could happen,” she said.

Turn-out throughout the state appears to be light despite predictions of record-breaking voter participation.

Early and absentee voting statistics show there’s more interest in next Tuesday’s special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler than there was for the special Feb. 2 primaries in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19.

Monday’s opening of early voting drew 1,192 voters in Palm Beach County — a 136 percent increase over the first day of early voting before the Feb. 2 special primaries, when 504 people voted. A total of 2,825 people ended up casting early primary ballots in Palm Beach County between Jan. 25 and Jan. 31.

Broward County had 305 early voters Monday, compared to 650 early voters for the entire seven-day period before the primaries.

With a week to go, both counties have already received more absentee ballots than they did for the primaries.

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As freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, seeks reelection this year, older brother Pat Rooney Jr. is running for a state House seat and younger brother Brian Rooney is trying to win a Michigan congressional seat.

Read about it this week’s Politics column.

Also: Read about how prosecutors want tougher residency standards in response to Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher’s frequent address changes when she was a state House member. And Robert Wexler returns to South Florida this week.

“Although the conduct reviewed is questionable and it appears that Ms. Bucher was manipulating her residency documents, there are no Florida statutes that directly address her behavior.”

So says a Palm Beach County state attorney’s memo concluding that no criminal charges should be filed against Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher for her multiple residency changes while she was a state House member from 2000 to 2008.

Read about it here.

Bucher and her husband owned a house outside her legislative district, but — in a practice that’s not uncommon among elected officials in Palm Beach County – Bucher registered to vote at a series of addresses inside the district.

A political rival alleged in 2008 that Bucher didn’t live where she claimed and therefore had signed false voter registration documents. Eighteen months later, the state attorney’s office concluded that Florida’s residency standard is too “vague” and “ambiguous” to pursue any charges.

It looks like only one of the three Republicans who want to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler in a special election turned in enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot without paying a $9,912 filing fee.

According to unofficial totals from the Palm Beach County elections office and official Broward County numbers, financial planner Joe Budd met the goal of 1,163 signatures from voters who live in Wexler’s congressional District 19 while retired police officer Curt Price and contractor Ed Lynch did not.

Both Price and Lynch said they plan to contact the elections offices to inquire about rejected petitions. They can still get on the ballot by paying the filing fee by noon Friday. Democrats Ted Deutch and Ben Graber plan to qualify by paying the fee. Nonpartisan candidates can qualify by paying a $6,608 fee.

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U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, has set his resignation for Jan. 3 at 11:59 p.m. in a letter this week to Gov. Charlie Crist, who will set a special election to fill the last year of Wexler’s term.

Wexler is leaving in the middle of his seventh term to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher and Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes want the special election to fill Wexler’s Palm Beach-Broward seat to be on March 9, which would coincide with municipal election dates in both counties.

No word yet from Crist’s office on the dates for the special primary and general election dates.

Read the text of Wexler’s letter after the jump…..

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A special election to replace U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, will cost Palm Beach County about $600,0000, Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher says. And if state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, wins that election, Bucher estimates it could cost another $500,000 to hold a special election to fill Deutch’s Senate seat.

Wexler is leaving in January, midway through his seventh term, to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

Under state law, the county can recover special election costs from the state. But the reimbursements won’t come until July 1 at the earliest and could take longer, Florida Department of State spokeswoman Jennifer Krell Davis said.

Palm Beach County has already submitted requests for about $246,000 to recover expenses from special elections this summer to fill a state Senate vacancy and an open state House seat.

Bucher’s estimates for the special congressional and state Senate elections assume there is both a primary and general election for each seat. Both districts run into Broward County. Bucher didn’t estimate costs there.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, will probably back state Sen. Ted Deutch in the special election to fill Wexler’s congressional seat, a knowledgeable Democratic source says.

Wexler himself wasn’t ready to make any endorsements today as he confirmed he’s leaving Congress in the middle of his seventh term to become president of the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

Wexler has a long history of getting involved in Democratic primaries and other local races. His most memorable activity was probably his successful 2004 effort to topple former elections chief Theresa LePore and install Arthur Anderson. Wexler later cooled on Anderson and was neutral when Anderson lost his reelection bid last year to Susan Bucher.

In 2006, Wexler backed Deutch in a Democratic state Senate primary and helped him defeat better-known, better-financed state Rep. Irving Slosberg. At the same time, Wexler was instrumental in Jeremy Ring’s victory over Ben Graber in a Democratic state Senate primary in Broward County. Now Deutch and Ring are among the candidates considering running for Wexler’s congressional seat.

Wexler hinted he’ll make an endorsement soon.

“I have been known to get involved in primaries before, both to people’s happiness and chagrin…I’ve done it before. I care deeply about the person who will replace me and lead this community in Congress, so we’ll leave that for another day,” Wexler said.

Early and absentee voting figures suggest another low-turnout special election Tuesday when Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas and Delray Beach City Commissioner Mack Bernard vie for the state House District 84 seat.

In fact, not even all the candidates will be voting. Bernard lives outside the district and has not changed his residence. If he wins, he said he will establish residency in District 84 before Sept. 22, when the winner of Tuesday’s election will take office.

Only 75 people cast early ballots for the election to replace Priscilla Taylor, who left the District 84 seat in July when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to a Palm Beach County commission vacancy.

“It’s very sad,” said Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher.

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In her new role as Palm Beach County elections supervisor, former state Rep. Susan Bucher has cut $1 million from the office’s $11 million budget, learned how to design ballots and earned high marks from the Palm Beach County Voters Coalition, Post reporter Jennifer Sorentrue writes today.

“I have been watching over everybody’s shoulders,” said Bucher, who makes $134,000 a year. “I have dedicated my first year as one of learning from the bottom up. I want to understand how all of the operations work so we can make some calculated decisions for improvements.”

More here.

It depends on what the meaning of “received” is.

Find out how the recent one-vote Palm Beach mayor’s race could end up setting statewide precedent. Plus: Is the vaunted Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce losing its mojo? What’s U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s explanation for not cosponsoring Big Labor’s top congressional priority? Will Art Argenio and Joe Negron — the Frazier and Ali of Treasure Coast Republican politics — beat each other up again?

Read about it here.