The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson. He gets the award for the following.

It turns out Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson's estimate of $1.25 a page to print optical-scan ballots - a figure that helped launch county commissioners into civil-disobedience mode and caused the state's top elections official to voice disbelief - was more than triple the actual cost, Anderson said Wednesday.

Anderson, slated to discuss his budget again with commissioners next week, said his office is crunching numbers and expects to come up with a "significant reduction" from the preliminary $5.9 million request for county tax money he presented to the commission Tuesday.

The county can get paper ballots printed and delivered for 40 cents a page, said Laurence Davenport, director of business affairs for the elections office, after getting a price quote Wednesday from vendor Sequoia Voting Systems.

That lops $1.36 million off the $2 million printing estimate Anderson gave commissioners the day before.

Anderson also told the board Tuesday he needs $3.9 million worth of new equipment to make the transition from paperless electronic voting to Florida's newly mandated system of paper ballots read by optical scanners. On Wednesday, the elections chief said that figure should come down, but he did not specify an amount.

Anderson's preliminary request for $5.9 million in county money - on top of a $5.1 million state grant to buy optical scanners - led commissioners to talk about defying Florida's new "paper trail" law unless the state came through with more money to pay for the change.

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Aside from the initial $2 million printing estimate, Anderson's $980,000 estimate for privacy booths also might come down, Davenport said. The $6,000-per-unit cost for 337 additional optical scanners is likely to be reduced by $200 apiece, Anderson said, which would shave $67,400 off his budget request.

Once again, Anderson proves his incompetence when it comes to running the office he was elected to. Don't say Palm Beach County voters weren't warned either, Anderson couldn't manage his personal finances before coming to this office. He had a history of Federal tax liens. Wanting revenge on Teresa LePore for her part in the 2000 election, local Democrat bigshots including Congressman Robert Wexler got Anderson to run for office. None of these idiots should be trusted with a kid's piggy bank.

For once again displaying bureaucratic incompetence, Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Please note- This is Anderson's 3rd Knucklehead award. Click here and here to see his previous two. Three awards puts the Elections supervisor in pretty elite company.

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