Brevard County Commission's 3-2 vote ends funding for mailing of sample ballots to voters

The Brevard County Commission has voted to eliminate funding for the mailing of sample ballots to all registered voters, as well funding for prepaid return postage on vote-by-mail ballots, from Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic's 2023-24 budget.

The vote to reduce the supervisor of elections office's total proposed budget by $318,223 was approved by a 3-2 vote last week during the County Commission's first of two budget hearings. The change was proposed by District 3 Commissioner John Tobia, who will be running against Bobanic in a Republican primary for supervisor of elections next year.

Tobia also questioned the proposed increases in the supervisor of elections' overall budget and the office's travel expenses.

Bobanic said the move had more to do with politics than fiscal responsibility.

"This is political gamesmanship at its best, and he is campaigning from the dais," Bobanic said in an interview after the meeting, noting that the mailing of sample ballots had not been questioned by commissioners in previous years. "What's different? What's changed? His name will be on the ballot, running for my job."

Tobia denies that politics are involved, saying: "My issues are with the frivolous spending by the supervisor of elections."

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Tobia said, if Bobanic wanted to continue mailing out sample ballots for all elections, "he has plenty of money in the budget," and could find ways to cut spending elsewhere in his budget to do so.

"I have no control of what the supervisor decides to send out," Tobia said.

Asked about that option, Bobanic said: "I don't have that kind of money padding in my budget."

Money shifts to Fire Rescue

The changes the County Commission approved in the supervisor of elections budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 will reduce the office's total proposed budget by $318,223. But Tobia said the new total budget of $7.50 million still will be 14.55% higher than the supervisor of elections' 2022-23 budget.

As part of the County Commission's action, the $318,223 will be shifted to the Brevard County Fire Rescue budget, for use in helping pay for capital projects, such as new or upgraded firehouses.

Bobanic said increases in the supervisor of elections budget for 2023-24, compared with a year earlier, are the result of there being more elections during the 2023-24 budget year, including a presidential primary election in March 2024, plus a state and local primary election in August 2024.

Joining Tobia in voting to modify the budget were County Commission Chair Rita Pritchett and Commissioner Jason Steele. Voting against the changes were Vice Chair Tom Goodson and Commissioner Rob Feltner.

"This will not decrease access to voting opportunities," Tobia said, with no changes in voting hours, supervisor of elections office staffing or poll workers on Election Day.

Bobanic said he plans to ask commissioners to reconsider their vote during the final County Commission budget hearing on Sept. 19, and to restore the money to the elections budget for 2023-24. He also has been encouraging members of the public to contact county commissioners with their concerns.

Republican, Democratic leaders oppose change

Both Brevard Republican Executive Committee Chair Rick Lacey and Brevard Democratic Executive Committee Chair Pamela Castellana say they are against any move to stop mailing sample ballots to all voters.

"I think the County Commission made a big mistake, and I hope they reconsider," Lacey said, adding that making voters aware of who is on the ballot is critical, as the important elections of 2024 approach.

Castellana said the commission's action is "yet another move to make it harder for people to get informed about elections." She said, by spearheading the proposal, Tobia "is putting politics over people."

Bobanic said the changes the County Commission approved will negatively affect voters in a number of ways.

Bobanic said it is a mistake to not fund the mailing of sample ballots, which he terms "the most critical tool to educate voters," adding that "this is a terrible idea that ultimately will hurt the Brevard electorate."

"This will create massive lines at the polls and early-voting sites, because the vast majority of voters won’t have the necessary information to study the ballot prior to voting." Bobanic said. "They will be on their phones, Googling the candidates and constitutional amendments in the voting booth, instead of walking in the door, prepared to vote."

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He noted that, in 2022, for example, the lengthy ballot in Palm Bay included 20 elections, plus a total of 19 state, county and city ballot questions.

The lack of mailed sample ballot "will also trigger a deluge of calls to our offices from angry voters wondering why they didn't get a sample ballot after having received one for the last 15-plus years," Bobanic said. "It's amazing to me that a candidate for supervisor of elections thinks it's a good idea to not send sample ballots."

Bobanic also noted that the sample ballots "contain much more than just the ballot itself."

They detail the voter’s precinct and polling place location and address; the identification requirements to vote; a list of early-voting sites with days and times they are open; information about returning mail ballots to secure ballot intake stations, also known as drop boxes; a list of supervisor of elections administrative offices; and various Election Day instructions.

Tobia pointed out during commission debate that, in addition, Bobanic's name would be mentioned three times on sample ballots going out to voters, including two supervisor of elections office logos containing Bobanic's name.

Bobanic said Tobia bringing up how often Bobanic's name appears on the sample ballots "tells me all I need to know" about the political motives behind the budget change.

Alternative ways to see ballot

Without the mailing of sample ballots, voters could request that the supervisor of elections office email a sample ballot to them, something more than 68,000 voters already have done. The sample ballot also would be published in FLORIDA TODAY.

Bobanic estimated that, even with these options, only about 19% of the more than 417,000 registered voters will see a sample ballot if they are not mailed to all voters. He said supervisors of elections in Florida's 16 largest counties mail out sample ballots, and most also publish a sample ballot in their local newspaper.

Additionally, Bobanic said, getting an emailed sample ballot "would be a challenge for a lot of voters who are not technically proficient, who don't have a computer, a way to print that sample ballot."

Bobanic also opposes not having his office pay the postage costs when voters mail in their vote-by-mail ballots, saying: "Voters shouldn't have to pay to cast their vote."

Some also would be confused about how much postage there would be on the mailing.

Pritchett said Bobanic should just indicate somewhere on the ballot how much it would cost to mail in, and let the voters pay that cost.

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The estimated cost of the county paying the postage for voters sending in vote-by-mail ballots for the 2023-24 budget year is $59,501.

Public comment backs Bobanic

During public comment prior to the County Commission vote, three members of the public spoke against Tobia's proposal, and questioned whether it was a conflict of interest for Tobia to be voting on the issue, because he is running against Bobanic.

Steele defended Tobia, saying it was "just disgusting" to insinuate that Tobia is unethical.

Steele also said he thought the mailing of sample ballots is "a complete waste of money."

But Goodson questioned why Tobia now is targeting the mailing of sample ballots in Bobanic's budget, when Tobia didn't question the spending by Bobanic's predecessor, Lori Scott.

Tobia said he was not targeting Bobanic, but rather the initial proposed increase of 19.4% in the supervisor of elections budget request, compared with a year earlier.

Bobanic was appointed last year as supervisor of elections by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the unexpired term of Scott, who resigned.

Tobia is completing his second four-year term as county commissioner, and cannot seek reelection to that post in 2024 because of term limits.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Commission vote ends funding for mailing sample ballots to voters