Sunday, May 11, 2008

Buddy Johnson, Hillsborough County, Supervisor of Elections Unable to Describe Details of the Voter Registration Process

Johnson complained that an NAACP lawyer treated him with condescension, and he briefly donned a football helmet before beginning the second day of testimony.
Johnson did not know how the county's database of registrations was sent to the state. He could not identify the most common registration verification problems at his office. He did not know if letters notifying voters of registration errors were sent in English and Spanish. He could not say whether a nickname, like "Buddy," would result in a failed match on a registration.

"Is this a quiz?'' Johnson asked NAACP attorney Lauren M. Rothenberg. "It feels like a quiz."
Buddy Johnson was one of six Florida county elections supervisors asked in depositions about procedures used to handle the voter registration "matching" law. When the NAACP attorneys asked which Hillsborough elections employees could best respond to questions about the registration process, Harris said Johnson "will speak to the issues."

No comments: