buddy johnson should be canned
tommyBuddy Johnson is a buffoon.
Or worse, he is manipulating local elections.
Either way, he should be fired, suspended or otherwise relieved of his duties.
The St. Pete Times followed up on the polling place changes, and found that he has been making untrue statements in regards to the fiasco.
Johnson says the Korean United Methodist Church did not want to be a polling site. Church Officials deny it. Either way, Johnson failed to inform voters that the polling site changed. Frank Riddick missed out on a runoff by only 37 votes. He’s understandably concerned, and filed a complaint with the Justice Department.
Furthermore, the online story ends with this nice wrapup:
Not notifying voters about precinct changes is the latest in a string of voting problems under Buddy Johnson.
- August 2004: At an early voting site, one of Johnson’s workers leaves a voting machine in the “test” mode, resulting in the loss of 245 votes. Johnson’s staff does not report the lost votes to the state for 13 days, making the 245 votes void.
- September 2004: Johnson’s vote tabulation machines slow to a crawl, delaying final vote counts until almost dawn, making it one of the slowest vote counts in the state. Johnson blames the failure of a “software indexing system.”
- November 2004: Witnesses say Johnson tries to butt in line to vote in a crowded early voting site at the College Hill Library. Johnson backs out after being caught on videotape, denies doing anything wrong and later votes on Election Day at his Plant City precinct.
- July 2006: A private group seeking to put the question of a county mayor on the 2006 ballot fails. After a private audit, the Taking Back Hillsborough Group says the petition drive failed because Johnson’s office lost hundreds of petitions and inexplicably rejected many others that bore valid signatures.
- March 2007: A total of 2,535 voters in precincts 215 and 217 in Tampa receive no written notification of a relocation of their polling places. An untold number of voters fail to vote.
Although the County Mayor petition mixup sounds as if someone got paid off, most of these could be seen as simple mistakes. But plenty of simple mistakes show a disturbing pattern of incompetence.
Hey Governor - Buddy Johnson needs to be relieved of his duties.
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March 21st, 2007 at 12:14 pm
It is tough enough for voters to particpate, but when you have doubts whether your particpation will count anyway, it undermines the entire process.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:38 pm
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March 21st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Since Buddy Freddy Johnson was elected, there’s been alot of “not staight up” things going on. I remember an article in the Tribune a year or so ago about about a huge increased budget or mishandling of funds….something like that…I know a bell rang with me of fiscal irresponsibility. Then I think he had a staff attorney he paid off to hire a friend at a higher salary?
Didn’t vote for him in the last election, one reason is all the “junk mail flyers” mailed out to voters. The mailers bragged on him, what changes he had made in his office since taking over… blah, blah blah… it was on slick expensive paper with colored ink. The printing and mailing costs for these had to be sky high. WASTE OF OUR TAX MONEY!!
March 21st, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Well, that settles it. I ain’t voting in the runoff!
March 21st, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Johnson is a sucker
March 21st, 2007 at 7:32 pm
whoops!
way to go Buddy, yeah we are going to vote you out next election you crooked little theif you.
March 21st, 2007 at 8:53 pm
http://tampasbackdoor.blogspot.com/2007/03/we-do-get-fooled-again.html
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 am
I received no notice and showed up to vote at the Korean Church. There was a man there that flagged me before I got out of my car and told me where to go. There was also a sign with a map showing how to go the three blocks to the new polling station (another church). Not happy about the no notice but wasn’t all that inconvenienced.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
I heard Brian Blair is going to run against him in the REP primary in 2008….
Not sure if we’d be any better off…
WE NEED A DAMN PAPER TRAIL
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:02 am
Lee Nelson stated:
“I heard Brian Blair is going to run against him in the REP primary in 2008…. Not sure if we’d be any better off…”
Um…..me think if he won over Buddy, no one would trust him, and will not vote. Blair voted against Muslim holidays saying such eveil things against the Muslim community on Bill O’Reilly along with Ronda Storms. And voted in favor of banning “Gay Pride.” And he has been bought out by lobbyists, special interests groups, and land developers.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:47 am
Run against him Brandon Pride.
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
If I did run for an office it would be County Commission.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Heh i happen to personally know buddy johnson and you guys have no idea how much more goes into this stuff than whats reported…why don’t you try to actually have a conversation with him before you make a judgment of him, you might actually be suprised
April 17th, 2008 at 7:35 am
[...] have said before that Buddy Johnson is not fit to be the Supervisor of Elections. He continues to prove us [...]