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Voters Register Confusion Over Elections Mailer

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2008

TAMPA - Bob and Luz Husereau are bewildered by the mailer delivered to their Plant City home urging them to register to vote.

Both have been registered for years.

"I didn't know if this meant our voting records were purged or lost," Bob Husereau said Friday.

"Why would they send these out to registered voters? It's very confusing," he said.

The mailers are adorned with photos of Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson, who is up for re-election this year and facing criticism from his opponent that he is using taxpayer money to fuel his campaign.

Over the past several weeks the elections office has spent tens of thousands of dollars on television and radio advertisements featuring Johnson's image.

The ads remind voters about the new paper ballots and give assurances that every vote will be counted.

Johnson did not return calls Friday seeking comment about the mailers.

His chief of staff, Kathy Harris, said the county elections office sent them to more than 600,000 registered voters as part of a countrywide educational outreach program.

She could not give an exact figure on how much the mailers cost.

Harris said the elections office included registration cards as a courtesy to voters who want to update their information or for their family and friends who haven't registered. In addition to the cards, the mailers include fliers with information about early and absentee voting, the new optical scan voting machines and a new youth registration drive.

"It's a complete waste of my tax dollars," said Cynthia Harper, a registered Tampa voter who also received the mailer this week. "What exactly are they trying to accomplish?"

Craig Latimer, campaign coordinator for Democrat Phyllis Busansky, who is challenging Johnson, questioned the rationale for mailing out registration cards.

"Why are they sending these out less than a week before the books close?" he said. "To trick voters into thinking that they aren't registered? It just doesn't make any sense."

Records show Johnson has raised about $50,000 and spent $23,000 on his re-election campaign as of Oct. 3, the most recent reporting date. Busansky has raised more than $132,000 - about $27,000 in the past month alone - and has spent about $81,000.

State elections officials have been encouraging elections supervisors across the state to explain to voters the switch from electronic voting to paper ballots as the election nears.

This year, Johnson's office has spent more than $127,000 on voter education, much of that paid to a public relations firm to create television and radio ads and brochures.

Elections supervisors in other Florida counties said they haven't mailed out voter registration cards because that might confuse voters.

"We don't do that," said Brian Corley, Pasco County's supervisor of elections. "The only thing we're sending out to registered voters now are sample ballots for the election."

Husereau, who votes by absentee ballot, said he's now concerned that his vote won't be counted.

He's left several messages for Johnson, but hasn't received a return call.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 election is Monday.

Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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