Hispanic community activist Armando Ramirez, who lost in the Nov. 2 Osceola County Commission district 2 election to incumbent Republican John Quiñones, in a lawsuit has leveled some very serious allegations relating to the recent balloting. Quiñones, the Canvassing Board and the supervisor of elections are all named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed last week Monday in Osceola County Circuit Court.

Ramirez, who previously ran unsuccessfully twice for Osceola County Commission, alleges absentee ballot fraud, unlawful rejection of provisional ballots and purposeful shaking of vote-counting equipment (to break up paper jams) by supervisor of elections employees on election night.

Ramirez, a Democrat who lost by 50 votes, also contends that 304 ballots (undervotes) remain uncounted for the district due to optical scanning equipment not being able to read them. The candidate also claims in his lawsuit that absentee ballots were counted from people who say they never voted or that residents who cast provisional ballots were dissuaded from providing adequate documentation within 72 hours after the election in order to have their votes counted.

While some people might call Ramirez a sore loser or a bully given his activist status and his history with single-member district issues here in the county, we believe his allegations are serious enough that they need to be dealt with in order for the electorate to have complete confidence in the local election process. That isn’t the case now, and there are just too many questions to just walk away and hope that any systemic problems are taken care of by 2012.

There always have been lawsuits over close elections, with declared winners becoming losers once ballots and voting procedures are closely scrutinized by the courts or recounts are conducted. We have to be prepared for a long process here, with a local court decision possibly being appealed. It could take a year or two to have a final court decision – lawsuits in other places have taken that long or longer to get a final decision.

While it is Ramirez’s right to seek a special election or a court declaration that he is the winner, we would rather he seek a recount, which would accomplish the same thing at less cost.

While it is not mandatory to vote in the United States as is the case in other countries, those who do go to the polls or who vote absentee must be sure that their ballot is handled and counted properly.