St. Augustine Record Prints Letter on Election Corruption

Letter: Election law rigged against the voters
Posted: October 16, 2014 - 11:34pm
By Michael L. Jordan
St. Augustine
Editor: On Aug. 4 of this year, I received my sample ballot for the primary election to be held on Aug. 26. Races for three judgeships and one School Board member were on it. No county commissioners.
I have registered as No Party Affiliation because that is true. I have no party affiliation and do not wish to have one.
The reason there was no County Commission District 4 race on my ballot is that there was an Independent candidate, Merrill Roland, and a write-in Independent candidate, Frances Schoenberger, running for election in that district. In District 2, John Milton Sailer was running as a write-in Independent candidate.
The day after the primary election, Mr. Sailer withdrew his candidacy. As a result, Jeb Smith was declared the new District 2 County Commissioner without actually having to face the entire electorate. Similarly, Frances Schoenberger withdrew from the District 4 race on the very same day. Mr. Roland has not withdrawn from the District 4 race. That race will be decided by all of the voters in the general election.
Did John Sailer and Frances Schoenberger individually wake up the morning after the election and decide that the odds were suddenly overwhelmingly against them ... on the same day? It appears that neither of them spent one dollar on their respective campaigns. What was it that led them to the conclusion that they should withdraw on that very day?
There are 76,745 voters registered as Democrats or “Other” in St. Johns County, out of a total of 160,504. In District 2, Mr. Smith’s margin over his nearest competitor was 1,925 votes. He could well have won anyway, but 76,745 voters did not even have a voice in the matter.
Mr. Smith, here’s your chance to win me over. Speak out against these idiotic, easily-gamed election laws. Take action to make sure this doesn’t happen again.