Oliphant Wants An Additional $29.8 Million

Sun Sentinel/Yahoo ^

[Retired Chemist]

Broward County's embattled elections supervisor, Miriam Oliphant, wants the county to increase her budget sixfold so she can add dozens of workers and buy thousands of extra voting machines in preparation for next year's presidential elections. The request would boost her spending from $5.8 million to $35.6 million and comes at a time when the county is struggling to deal with hefty state budget cuts. Her staff is justifying the mega-increase as essential to ensuring residents don't wait in long lines to vote and the area is not again the butt of national jokes. But the proposal is all but dead on arrival at the Government Center. County commissioners scoffed and said the best Oliphant can expect is a barebones budget given her repeated controversies of the past year. "She's out of her mind," Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger said. "Does she not realize there is a financial crisis going on in this country? Does she have no fiscal responsibility? The money is not there."

[Retired Chemist]

More money to spend irresponsibly

[Moonman62]

She's got some balls, as well as being incompetent and stupid.

[Unknown Freeper]

"She's out of her mind," Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger said. "Does she not realize there is a financial crisis going on in this country? Does she have no fiscal responsibility? The money is not there."

Guess Miriam goes to the "you don't get if you don't ask" school of election fraud.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

For someone who is able; Post A Picture!

[js1138]

This county continues to be a laughingstock. They passed over the simple, cheap and foolproof optical scanner ballots in favor of elaborate and expensive touch screen machines, then found out they were too stupid to operate them.

[yoe]

I thought Jeb fired or replaced this unqualified person......it is time to clean up our election people, she has been there too long!

VOTE COUNTING FRAUD IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

"Explicit Statistical Evidence of Massive Ballot Tampering in Palm Beach, FL"

The statistical evidence is clear.

These statistics indicate that one or more of the individuals who had access to the Palm Beach County ballots deliberatedly tampered the ballots in an attempt to make Al Gore and Joe Lieberman the winners.

Only a handful of individuals had such access.

[nothingnew]

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!...Why not ask for a million-gazillion? (The Spy Who Shagged Me)

FMCDH

[beckett]

One of the all-time funniest and weirdest moments in south Florida political history occurred last year when Oliphant's sister, a patronage worker in the Broward State Attorney's office (she has since been fired), ranted and raved before TV cameras while holding a newspaper in front of her face and charged that Oliphant was the victim of cabal of gay white guys in the elections supervisor's office who were spreading unfounded rumors about her incompetency.

Oliphant is clearly over her head as an elections supervisor, having had zero experience as a manager or technocrat before she got the elected to the job. Literally, she has never managed people before and now she's in charge of a large office responsible for one of the most sacred duties in a democracy, the vote. The Democrats in Broward will continue to cover for her, however. The alternative, i.e., being responsible guardians of the rights of all voters in the county by forcing her out, is unacceptable, as it would upset an important constituency, black Democrats.

[windchime]

Chutzpah! (nice word for it)
Thought you guys might be interested. She's obviously up to something for 2004.

[thegreatbeast]

Bwahahahahahahaha.....bwahahahahahahahahahaha! It would be cheapeaper (and far wiser) to take the franchise away from a certain percentage of the county. No mas problemo.

[clintonh8r]

...and she will be re-elected. Count on it. RAT-infested Broward County will always vote for a RAT, no matter how incompetent, corrupt, arrogant and apparently, in Fat Miriam's case, insane.

[Joe Boucher]

Can you say incompetant black quota?
If this very stupid and ignorant female were white she would have been fired long ago.
You can't hold her to the same standards, after all she's black.
As long as there are two standards by which to judge folks, blacks will never measure up. How about one standard for all.

[JerseyHighlander]

from the article:

Leb said the costs could go down if the state eliminates primary runoffs and does not schedule any special elections for this November.

These people have long lost the concept of, of the people, for the people, and by the people

Population over 18 y.o., Broward County, 2000 census
1,239,985
Percent registerd to vote
75.3%
Registered voters
933708
That works out to $39 PER VOTER

That's some very rough numbers, but still Unreal...

.

http://www.sfrpc.com/ftp/pub/ccb/tbb00ch7.pdf

census.gov quickfacts

[JerseyHighlander]

That's more money per person than the Jim Crow poll taxes of the segregated south. That's a lot more money per person.Leb said the costs could go down if the state eliminates primary runoffs

Only after poll taxes, which were much less than the requested budget per capita, and literacy tests were forcefully ended in Florida was there a need for primary runoffs, because the Dixiecrats had lost control of the show.

Leb went on to say, off the record, "Why these little people could keep us from spending millions of dollars if they gave us the power to decide such horribly complicated, and expensive decisions on trivial matters, say, the outcome of an disputed election, and wouldn't have to worry about being called the floridiots of America ever again, if they would simply rely on the the superior judgements of the oficials they have elected to serve such communal responsibilities."

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the ping. I am dumbfounded that this woman isn't sitting in a jail cell yet. She astounds me as much as Bubba Clinton.

p.s. whatever happened to the 13 missing voting machines from the 2002 primary???

[Dan from Michigan]

About what I expect from people that send Nazis like Peter Deutsch, Bob Wexler, and Alcee Hastings to office.

[george wythe]

Some commissioners said they saw the budget request as a political strategy designed to place blame on them for the office's ongoing problems. They argue that Oliphant is trying to create the perception that she has been underfunded rather than address audit findings of cost overruns and allegations of mismanagement.

"Her strategy is so obvious and transparent that the public will not buy it," Commissioner John Rodstrom said. "This is just unprecedented. It's incredible."

Commissioner Ben Graber said the only budget addition he would approve for Oliphant would be an efficiency expert. "This is a Christmas wish list, not a budget plan," he said.

And to think we will be dealing with this incompetent public servant again on the next presidential elections.

[clintonh8r]

Commissioner Ben Graber....

....prominent Broward County abortionist.

[centurion316]

Oh, you people are all being rather silly. Can't you see that this woman has lots of relatives and friends. They all need jobs. The economy is in the tank. She is just doing her bit to lead the recovery. Not only will all of her friends and relations have jobs, they will be spending money on luxury goods: automobiles, boats, vacation homes. And as an added bonus, they will ensure that all those democrat voters get to the polls come election day.

[windchime]

'p.s. whatever happened to the 13 missing voting machines from the 2002 primary???'


I've read nothing to indicate the missing machines were accounted for.