Photo: JillianCain / iStock / Getty Images
In our Election Spotlight this morning is the race for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections.
Democrat Wendy Sartory Link was first appointed to the position by Governor DeSantis in 2019 and won election to stay for the next four years in 2020.
Her challenger in this election is Republican Jeff Buongiorno, who unsuccessfully ran against Congressman Brian Mast in a GOP Primary two yeas ago. He's an IT expert who owns a Microsoft consultancy firm.
"This job overall has become very technical and I tell the people you wouldn't hire an IT guy to represent you in court, why would you hire a lawyer like Wendy Link with no technical experience to run and supervise our elections, which is all about technology now?"
He cites several security concerns regarding the technology being used in the Elections Supervisor's office and says he's the man for the job.
"If you have an IT expert in there and they can lock things down in a certain way and they actually know technology, there's less of a threat vector."
Link says she's done a lot to make your vote secure.
"We've also invested a lot in cybersecurity, a lot of cybersecurity programs, water marks on ballots...just doing everything we can to make sure that we can protect the votes."
On why she should get another term...
"I think that we've proven that I can make things better and will be able to continue to make them better. We have gone from where people were embarrassed...my staff said they were embarrassed to say they worked here. Now, they are very proud of it."
In our conversation (above) Buongiorno makes multiple claims that we brought to the incumbent and she says most of it is incorrect.
Buongiorno says Link doesn't follow state law, claiming the "onus is on the supervisor of elections to make sure the voters prove citizenship and legal residents of the county before they vote." She says she follows state law. Her office works with the state, which verifies residency when it is in question. For example, Link says that if you don't put down a drivers license or Social Security number in an effort to register to vote, the state will check to see if you have one or the other. You must provide a valid form of I.D. before you can ever vote for the first time in Florida. She says you also can't get a vote by mail ballot unless you have a drivers license on file. Newer state law does not allow for a "special" ballot to be mailed to would-be voters who don't first provide a drivers license.
Third-party groups that he mentions that assist residents in registering to vote are ones that the state allows people to use. They must register with the state so that elections supervisors know they are verified with a number the groups are given by the state. There is also redundancy in this process in that every voter registration that the group puts in, on the back they must put that third-party registration number for tracking purposes.
As for his claims about the software being used at her office, Link says she only uses software that is certified by the state for tabulation and auditing.
Click Here to view Florida's Election Statutes.