By Fallan Patterson    

Staff Writer

Armando Ramirez, a community activist and former Osceola County Commission district 2 candidate, filed a lawsuit last week against his opponent, John Quiñones, the Supervisor of Elections Office and the Canvassing Board contesting his loss in the Nov. 2 election.

Ramirez alleges absentee ballot fraud, unlawful rejection of provisional ballots – ballots given to voters who lack the required identification – and purposeful shaking of optical scanners by employees on election night.

One of the main issues mentioned in the lawsuit is that 304 ballots remain uncounted due to the inability of the optical scanners to read them. Called “undervotes,” Ramirez and his representatives said that by hand-counting these votes, Ramirez would be victorious. Officially, 50 votes now separate Ramirez and Quiñones.

The suit also claims absentee ballots were counted from people who said they never voted or were out of the country and there were ballots from people who said they voted for Ramirez, a Democrat, but were counted toward his opponent, a Republican and the incumbent in the race.

“This isn't about politics. It has nothing to do with political parties or political candidates,” Derek Brett, Ramirez's attorney, said. “It has to do with protecting the vote.”

Additionally, the lawsuit calls into question the “security of the vote” on election night as unauthorized people were witnessed looking over ballots and election workers were instructed to rock the optical scanners. On election night, an office spokeswoman said the shaking of the scanners prevented paper jams and was a suggested maneuver by the manufacturer.

News-Gazette requests for comment by the manufacturer of the optical scanners regarding the shaking issue were not returned.

Ramirez is not seeking a recount; he hopes the court will either declare him the winner or void the results and hold a new election.

The estimated cost for a possible recount if the court ordered one was not available but Amber Smith, public information officer for the elections office, previously said the funds would come out of the agency’s operating budget.

“I will not rest until justice is done,” Ramirez said. “The egregious political system in Osceola County is messing with the wrong person.”

Members of the Canvassing Board – an entity of the elections office that verifies and certifies election results – named in the lawsuit include Osceola County Judge Hal C. Epperson, County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. and Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington.

The elections office does not comment on pending litigation.

The suit claims that after Ramirez held a lead over Quiñones the majority of election night with all regular votes from 12 district 2 precincts counted, there was a “suspect swing” in the vote totals in Quiñones’ favor once absentee ballots were counted.

With provisional ballots possibly deciding the election, Ramirez said he was encouraging residents who voted in that manner to provide their information to the elections office so their vote would be counted.

The suit outlines an incident where a Kissimmee couple that voted by provisional ballot due to an address mishap was confronted at their home by a person they claim identified himself as Quiñones. The couple did not open the door and the man told the couple through the door that their issue had been resolved and they did not need to visit the elections office.

Provisional ballots were analyzed Nov. 5 by the Canvassing Board and Quiñones was still declared the winner by 50 votes, a 0.58 percentage difference over Ramirez.

Elections within half of 1 percent trigger an automatic recount per Florida law.