You learn a lot about the election process by sitting down and talking to Harry Sawyer, Monroe County, Florida’s Supervisor of Elections since 1989.
For instance, Monroe County’s Elections Office has conducted more than 50 government and 30 civil and school elections in the past nine years without a hitch — a record to be proud of considering the county covers a 113-miles-long geographic area of 33 voting precincts. The Monroe County Elections Office credits its success to countywide collaboration, ranging from the county government to high school students.
The Elections Office has the cooperation of such countywide agencies as Monroe County’s Public works and Communications Departments, GATV Channel 16; the Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorneys Office, and veteran poll workers.
County support for the election process comes in many forms. “Monroe County Public Works is invaluable in providing ramps for any voting facility that requires a ramp for accessibility of the disabled,” Sawyer said. “They install a ramp in any voting facility that requires assistance before voting day and remove them afterward. We have never encountered an accessibility issue we could not address with assistance from the county’s Public Works Department.”
Monroe County Government Television Channel 16 broadcasts live election results to the public on Election Day. Monroe County communications department is critical to ensuring that all phone lines are operational to upload ballots for tabulation.
The Sheriff’s Office helps by collecting the absentee ballots and delivering them to the Elections Office for tabulation. They also provide electronic road signs to direct voters to newly relocated polling sites. The State Attorneys Office is on call to investigate any complaints that might arise during the election. This countywide cooperation with the Elections Office provides citizens with a positive election experience.
Sawyer admits, “Finding poll workers is harder each year.” Fortunately, he added, Monroe County has many veteran poll workers who have participated in countless elections.
The election office has a program to train high school students as poll workers for each election. The students are required to be 17 years old and pre-registered to vote. This is a win-win arrangement; the students get hands-on practical experience with the voting process and the Supervisor of Elections gets new enthusiastic poll workers to fill some of the 325–335 poll worker positions for each election. Sawyer even loans the voting system to the high schools for student elections. This gives the students familiarity and experience in the voting process before they are legally able to vote in public elections.
County businesses such as Keys Energy Services also participate in the election process. They are part of the “adopt a precinct” program, where Keys Energy Services employees are permitted to work as poll workers and the funds they receive for working the polls are donated to local charities. Florida Keys Community College also participates in the Adopt-a-Precinct program and the Elections Office is talking to the military about its possible participation.
The cooperation of Monroe County as a whole has helped Sawyer fulfill his goal of providing a reliable, fast and secure method of conducting elections. “There is no place like the Keys. County agencies cooperate to help us with the voting process; no one worries about being Democrat, Republican or district lines. We all work together to conduct successful elections in the Keys.”
