By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
When Bronson holds its Sept. 14 town election this year, there won’t be enough advance time to send out overseas military ballots.
Bronson Town Manager, Susan Beaudet, who is new to the job, developed a timeline for the election. She showed it to Supervisor of Elections Tammy Jones to make sure it was correct. Jones discovered the flaw.
Jones mentioned the problem because it points to a complex municipal election cycle in Levy County that forces her office to assist eight cities in preparing for their elections on seven different months of the year.
The elections supervisor is proposing to unify all the municipal elections under one Levy County Municipal Election Day. Each city will have its own independent city election as always, but all would take place on one day.
Jones is recommending April 5. She is planning to visit all eight cities in Levy County to make a pitch for one Municipal Election Day.
Elections aren’t as simple as they once were. Ballots must be English and Spanish even for cities. There are a couple of other requirements cities must meet such as early voting and voting by mail.
Using a single voting day for all cities, candidates would qualify between noon of the 71st day before the election and noon of the 67th day before the election. The same time frame is used for county, state, and federal elections.
“This extra time ensures vote-by-mail ballots are mailed out according to state statutes and ballots are proofed, printed and equipment is tested properly,” Jones.
As it stands now every Levy County city handles its own elections, but all depend on Jones’ office to develop an accurate ballot and provide the election voting machines for Election Day.
Currently, Yankeetown holds its election in February, Williston, and Inglis in March, Cedar Key in May, Chiefland in August, Bronson in September, Fanning Springs in October-November, and Otter Creek in December, Jones said.
“We literally have an election every month,” she said. “The biggest disadvantage I see is voter confusion,” she said.
Jones said a unified election date would allow her to provide the equipment, ballots, and support to Levy County’s small cities to ensure the elections are handled without problems.
She said holding March city elections conflicts with the presidential preference primaries every four years. November city elections add length to a state and federal long ballot. In the last four-year election in Levy County, the state and local candidates and amendments occupied 22 inches on both sides of the ballot.
Jones said elections technology is becoming more sophisticated and is changing. Voting by mail makes elections a lot more complex.
“We want to make sure we test and get everything right. We want to make sure voters trust our vote count. To do that we have to test, get our equipment ready. We need to make sure we have enough time,” Jones said.
One of the problems she sees with many cities is the different time spans cities use to start the election process, qualify candidates, and prepare the ballot before the election equipment can be moved into place.
“It’s hard on me when a municipality says qualifying is Friday. We need ballots. We have to test and make sure there are no errors on the ballot too,” she said. “I just want you to think about what works best for Bronson. I will be going to talk to the other cities. You are the first town I’ve spoken to.”
Jones said a common problem is that city charters may have outdated language regarding elections, or a city may be using an ordinance for elections that is outdated. If a city’s charter contains outdated language, the amended language must be approved in a city election. Ordinances can be changed much faster by a vote of the elected board.
Jones said it’s too late this year to amend Bronson’s charter but it could be done in the next election cycle.
Another problem is city elections that end in a tie. She said Bronson faced that issue a couple of years ago. The city held a runoff election two weeks after the main election to break the tie.
“It’s possible that it’s not a fair way to have an election and make sure everyone has an opportunity to vote,” she said.
Chiefland decided one race a few years back by drawing straws. The candidate that drew the short straw, which was the incumbent, lost her seat on the city commission.
When Chiefland holds its election in August, and Bronson holds its election in September, Jones said it can become hectic for her office.
Mayor Beatrice Roberts said the town council has talked about changing its election date in past years. She thinks it is “a really good idea.”
Roberts said holding a town election in September means the town is preparing for an election during budget time. Adding to the challenges is when someone new is in charge of the election. Town Manager Susan Beaudet is new to her job. This will be her first election.
Roberts said establishing one day each year for all municipal elections in Levy County sounds like it would be a good change.
“I think it will be a good thing,” she said.
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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting June 7, 2021; Posted June 13, 2021
