Polk County reverses course to hold partisan elections after state insistence

BARTOW, Fla. (FLV) – Polk County will reverse its requirements to run for constitutional offices after the Florida Department of State sent a legal notice demanding that the supervisor of elections must hold partisan races for the positions.

Florida’s Voice questioned Polk County’s supervisor of elections last week on why the offices were nonpartisan election despite a recent court ruling.

On Friday, Department of State General Counsel Joseph Van de Bogart sent a letter to the county’s supervisor of elections, Lori Edwards, detailing how the court decision allows constitutional office seekers to run as a “partisan, no-party-affiliated, or write-in candidate.”

“Unless you change the constitutional officer races to partisan and indicate you will continue to hold partisan races for county constitutional officers, pursuant to Fla. Stat. 97.012(14), we will be forced to bring an action to enforce the performance of your duties in accordance with the Florida Election Code,” he said.

In response, Edwards told Florida’s Voice she is “happy to comply” with the change to partisan elections.

“I’m glad the issue is resolved,” Edwards said. “I am happy to comply with the Secretary of State’s directive. Polk’s constitutional officer elections will be conducted as partisan contests.”

County Commissioner Neil Combee brought the issue to the department’s attention when he found Polk County was not upholding the 2019 Florida Supreme Court ruling, Orange County v. Singh.

Combee expressed how he was glad that the issue was “settled” after Edwards’ statement.

“I think the possibility of things getting messy was very real if she had continued on with the non-partisan elections with the unchallenged, 2019 Supreme Court ruling now more widely known,” he said.

Florida’s Voice previously spoke with Combee and Edwards on July 28 in separate interviews, and asked questions related to topic at hand.

Combee had expressed it was “conventional wisdom” that Edwards, being a Democrat in a conservative county, was keeping constitutional offices non-partisan in the hopes of electing more Democrats into positions where party affiliation was not allowed to be shown.

Edwards responded to his comments by saying that if partisan races were required, it would change the “nature” of the elections.

The supervisor initially argued that Polk County’s charter “specifies that the constitutional officers are nonpartisan.”

“I want to be perfectly clear, my job, and I’m happy to do it and thankful for the opportunity, is to follow the law and to follow the charter,” she explained in the interview.

She also shared that following the court decision was “not a concern” of hers.

Van de Bogart reaffirmed in the letter that the Polk County charter goes directly against the state’s election code, thus invalidating the section regarding constitutional officer elections.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd shared in a statement that as the Chief Election Officer for the state, it is his responsibility to “obtain and maintain uniformity in the interpretation and implementation of election laws.”

“After considering all options under the Florida Election Code, the Department took swift action to ensure election law is uniformly applied throughout the state,” Byrd said. “In order to maintain integrity in our elections, it is essential we hold all Florida election officials to the same standards.”

Edwards has said that she is seeking a seventh term as election supervisor, a position that she has held since 2000. Previously, she had represented Polk County in the state legislature as a Democrat.

The supervisor said that she plans to continue running as a non-partisan candidate even after the department has required the county to hold partisan elections for constitutional offices like hers.

“I don’t see myself changing anything about myself or the job that I do, whether it’s partisan or non-partisan,” she said.