The Alachua County Supervisor of Elections is responsible for setting up polling locations, educating voters, maintaining voter registration and verifying election results.
Democratic candidate Kim Barton is the incumbent for this race. Barton has spent over 30 years working in Alachua County elections administration, with the past eight years spent as Supervisor of Elections. In 2016 and 2020, she ran unopposed. This race is her first time campaigning for her position. She graduated from UF in 1985 with a bachelor’s in advertising, and she is a Master Florida Certified Elections Professional.
Republican candidate Judith Jensen has lived in High Springs for 11 years, and she has worked as both a volunteer poll watcher and a poll worker operating EViD voting machines for the county, according to her candidate statement. She is a practicing nurse and the secretary of the Alachua County Republican Party.
The Alligator sent a questionnaire to both candidates with the following questions to allow them to speak about their policies in their own words.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Kim Barton: “If I were to be re-elected, I would focus on further expanding accessible voting opportunities — enhancing the voting experience, forming new partnerships with community organizations and expanding awareness about voting and elections in the community.”
Judith Jensen: “Trust — Open communication with citizens, respecting and listening to their concerns is critical to providing honest elections. Many people I spoke with stated that they don’t bother with elections because their vote doesn’t matter. This complacency about their voice being heard must be addressed so everyone has a chance to participate in decisions for our county.
Transparency — My public record request responses have only led to more questions about our voter roll maintenance. Finding deceased individuals, unconfirmable addresses, people who moved out of state, among other anomalies shows inadequacy in this process. Moving more than 32,000 voters to inactive status in the last half of 2023 while removing no inactives is difficult to rationalize. Open forums with concerned citizens and prompt compliance with Sunshine Laws needs to occur. The voter rolls are public record but access is hamstrung by the contract with VR systems making their release cumbersome.
Smooth elections – Busy citizens need to have their vote recorded with ease and respect for their time. Every effort must be made to not disenfranchise any voters, especially in the precincts where no public transportation is available. Clear communication about polling place changes must occur in the future.”
Why are you running?
Kim Barton: “I am running to be reelected as your Supervisor of Elections because I am passionate about continuing Alachua County’s progress towards greater voter accessibility, access and transparency in elections. I believe my accomplishments and my vision for voting and elections in Alachua County are aligned with what this community needs: a leader that cares about their right to vote and fair, accessible, transparent elections.”
Judith Jensen: “I have formed and led teams of election integrity volunteers for years which have been researching voter registrations and election processes. Our input to the SOE office has not been received with collaboration. The frustration with even getting a meeting to discuss our findings moved me to become a candidate, the first time a Republican has challenged for 20 years. I have been involved in every aspect of elections I could gain access to, including: poll working, poll watching, attending vote-by-mail signature matching sessions, canvassing board meetings. I believe the voters in Alachua County deserve a choice for this key position. The many instances of ballot errors, lawsuits, precinct polling location changes and voter confusion have to stop to restore confidence in the SOE office.”
Do you believe Alachua County’s current election processes are secure? Why or why not?
Kim Barton: “As Supervisor of Elections, I am absolutely certain that elections are secure. My office works closely with federal and state partners to ensure our procedures and equipment are up-to-standard and accessible. We have instituted numerous security procedures. Finally, my office has an experienced and talented staff ready to rise to any challenge presented to us.”
Judith Jensen: “I network with many election integrity groups throughout the state. Many processes have been identified that must be improved, including vote-by-mail ballot handling, overseas citizen verification, questionable voter registrations and a myriad of other priorities that the Florida Supervisor of Elections organization is resistant to acknowledge or tackle. Here in Alachua, we have seen multiple incidents of failure — misprinted ballots, machine malfunctions, voters going to the wrong polling locations and the VR system going down at key moments. The lack of transparency in these situations has eroded my trust in our elections, especially since our Dominion suite of machines will not produce the Cast Vote Records provided by most other counties in Florida for analysis. The paltry audit of one race in one random precinct is too small a sample to determine whether the machines are reliable. That’s why a team of volunteers is doing an audit of the entire 2020 election ballot images to compare to the reported totals.”
What changes, if any, should be made to voting laws to strengthen elections and protect voter rights?
Kim Barton: “Changes to election and voting laws are at the discretion of the state legislature. My office is tasked with following whatever statutes they pass. However, one challenge my office often faces is adapting to statute and rule changes during an election year. I certainly respect the legislature’s role in updating the laws when they see fit, but I do seek more collaboration with the state so we can update our procedures as soon as we know about these changes.”
Judith Jensen: "Florida is touted as the ‘gold standard,’ but our research has shown that there is much that needs improvement through legislation. If ineligible people are included on the voter roll, their vote will cancel out a legitimate vote, which is unacceptable. The federal government must be compelled to provide citizenship data to the state so we can assure that non-citizens are not voting. The Constitution stipulates voting on election day, not the current radically extended period of time. Over 100 countries successfully hand count their elections in one day without the use of mail ballots, a process which historically has been efficient and observable. While there is value to improving access through mail and early voting, voter turnout is still suboptimal and opens the door to bad actors taking advantage of vulnerabilities. Any laws making it easy to vote (in person) and tough to cheat should be supported.”
What traits do you bring to the table that make you a good candidate?
Kim Barton: “The central traits I bring to the table that make me a good candidate are my 30-plus years of election administration experience, my connections to Alachua County, and my record of accomplishments. In short, I’ve demonstrated by experience through my service, through testimony from the people in this community who know me and from the many ways I have been recognized.”
Judith Jensen: “I have a proven track record of leadership in my profession. I attained five specialty certifications and will certainly become certified in elections when they admit me to their program (I was denied access due to not currently working in an election office). As a Clinical Nurse Specialist on a busy labor and delivery unit, I was responsible for a staff of almost 100 professionals, providing practice oversight. In my other career positions, I always excelled, leading and mentoring. I’m used to long shifts in a high-stress environment, multitasking and providing excellent service with my practice observable. I am honest and accountable — no secrecy behind closed doors. I believe in collaboration, working with diverse stakeholders to obtain the best solutions, not the easiest.”
The Alligator Editorial Board put together the candidates' answers. You can reach them at editor@alligator.org.
