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Collier’s Supervisor of Elections running for re-election
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Carrie Wise interviews Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards for a recap of elections Watch »
Jennifer Edwards
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As Jennifer Edwards takes a stab at a third term in office, she also has to manage the largest election she has faced thus far.
Edwards, Collier County’s Supervisor of Elections, has served since she was appointed by the governor in 2000 to finish out the term of her predecessor, who resigned. She then ran for the office in the 2000 election, and again in 2004.
“I thoroughly enjoy what we do in this office. It’s such an important function for our community,” Edwards said last week. “I tell my staff, ‘We’re the gatekeepers of democracy.’ I read that somewhere.”
In addition to running unopposed — so far — Edwards will be installed this month as the president of the Florida Association of Supervisors of Elections.
“I’ve become so engaged in election reform ... We’ve implemented so many changes in this county in the past eight years: We’ve voted three different ways in this county,” said Edwards, 58, who filed her candidacy papers in November.
While she said she is disappointed in the change of voting equipment — “because I’m a supporter of the touch screen system” — it is an attempt to improve the level of confidence voters have in the system, she said.
State legislators voted in 2007 to implement an optical scan ballot system.
As of May 1, Collier had 195,134 registered voters: 99,721 Republicans; 49,071 Democrats; 8,351 “others;” and 37,991 nonpartisans.
Edwards is also proud of a precinct adoption program, whereby charitable organizations provide poll workers, trained by Edwards’ office, and instead of individuals pocketing the election-period pay, all the money goes to the not-for-profit groups.
“We started that in 2004. I borrowed the idea from another county,” Edwards said. So far, of the 94 precincts in Collier, 50 have been adopted by organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary, Leadership Collier, and various churches.
Another program Edwards loves is student voter education.
“We did our first student election in 2002, and now we, gosh, that’s all we have been doing this spring,” Edwards said. “We’ve had 4,000 young voters who voted this year ... on their favorite book.”
A Kentucky native, Edwards moved to Naples in 1984. She is married to Ronnie Edwards, and they have two children and three grandchildren.
With a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University, Edwards was a county employee before former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her to finish out the term of the previous Supervisor of Elections.
She ran unopposed in 2000 and again in 2004.
Asked what that tells her, Edwards said: “It tells me that we’re doing a good job.”
Hopefully, that streak will continue because this is going to be a huge election: a presidential contest, in which — for the first time since 1952 — neither an incumbent nor vice president is running.
Campaigning while running an election would be difficult, admitted Edwards, who earns $112,418 per year, plus benefits.
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She's done a great job. Its good to have an
elected offficial we can rely on.
#1 Posted by BobBarricade on May 9, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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