Mitch Ceasar, along with his wife Donnie, file for the top job as supervisor of elections.
By: Sharon Aron Baron
Former Democrat Chair Mitch Ceasar filed paperwork on Wednesday to be the next supervisor of elections.
After the 2018 midterm elections, former supervisor Dr. Brenda Snipes was suspended for “misfeasance, incompetence, neglect of duty. Governor Rick Scott then appointed Peter Antonacci, who said he isn’t running in 2020 for the position.
Ceasar said he is prepared for the position and his first task as the supervisor would be to bring Broward County up-to-date in the election process.
“I want to bring in a dream team in from around the country who are experts in elections,” he said.
An attorney with a practice in Plantation, Ceasar said he has experience in election law and has fought against voter suppression and for expanded voting rights and transparency. He was also part of the Florida presidential recount of 2000.
For 20 years, Ceasar was the chair for the Broward Democratic Party and frequent guest analyst on national news shows. In 2016, he decided not to run again for the chair position, instead, seeking the position for clerk of the courts, ultimately won by Brenda Forman.
Ceasar was also vice chairman of the Democratic Convention in 2000. He is a Rules Committee Member and Executive Board Member on the Democratic National Convention, Chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and founder and president of the Tamarac Democratic Club. Ceasar was also one of the final 28 delegates who provided President Barack Obama with his historic Democratic nomination.
The supervisor of elections office oversees an $18 million dollar budget and 72 employees.
Ceasar said that previously, the job of supervisor of elections was to count votes accurately and promptly.
“While that task remains, times have changed, and the job description has changed as well,” said Ceasar. “This is no longer a purely administrative job; it’s a position to defend our constitutional right and a position that must include voter education.”
Residents who have not registered to vote can do so at registertovoteflorida.gov/en/Registration.