Suspended Broward County elections supervisor Miriam Oliphant will testify Wednesday, the last scheduled day of a Senate hearing that will determine whether she should be reinstated, her attorney said.Also Monday, the general master in the case, Steve Kahn, ruled the Broward County Commission is "not obliged to appear" and testify at the hearing because the serving of subpoenas by Oliphant's defense two weeks ago was not correct and "not effectively served."
Said Oliphant's attorney Henry Hunter: "Unequivocally, we were given the run around. I am not going to give up. I don't see how this case would be complete without (the commissioners) testimony."
Oliphant and Hunter are challenging her suspension by insisting she was sabotaged by others and that underfunding caused widespread problems in her office.Gov. Jeb Bush suspended Oliphant last year without pay for alleged neglect of duty, incompetence and misfeasance stemming from the 2002 primary, when voters received bad ballots and inaccurate registration information. Some polls opened late and others closed early, and thousands of votes were not counted in a timely manner.
That botched primary drew national attention because it was part of the failed gubernatorial campaign of former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
Among those testifying Monday was Sarasota County Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent, who was among a number of supervisors from around the state attempting to help troubleshoot Broward's problems and offer solutions in time for elections in both 2003 and 2004.
Dent, who observed Oliphant's office late last year, said she found there to be ``a disconnect'' between Oliphant and other elections office staffers.
``There had been little communication and they were all confused as to who was in charge of what and what the responsibilities were,'' said Dent, who testified for more than four hours.
Hunter, though, tried to discredit Dent's testimony, saying the elections supervisors who observed Oliphant had no good intentions.
``They went down to critique solely for the purpose to attempt to remove Ms. Oliphant,'' Hunter said.
Kahn, the Senate's general counsel, hear evidence through Wednesday before making his recommendation to the Senate, which has the final say on whether Oliphant's ouster stands.
Oliphant filed papers last week announcing her intent to run for her old job, for which she was making $128,000 annually, again in November.
``I have confidence in myself and in the voters of Broward County,'' Oliphant said Monday on her way into the hearing room. ``It is their responsibility as voters to elect me or remove me, not the governor.''
The last time a Florida elections supervisor was removed from office was 1986, when Gov. Bob Graham suspended Leon County Supervisor of Elections Jan Pietrzyk. The Senate eventually reinstated him.
