Seminole County Watch columnist Slats Murphy

Josef Stalin supposedly said, "It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes."

Whether Stalin actually said it or not, there is at least one state leader who believes in that philosophy and is as committed to one-party rule as Stalin.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush endorsed the principle above with his appointment of Mike Ertel as Seminole County Supervisor of Elections. Ertel is an aggressively-partisan Republican who is perhaps even more aggressive than he is partisan. Last year, he challenged incumbent Supervisor of Elections Dennis Joyner in the Republican primary, even though both were of the same party.

Thus, when Joyner resigned earlier this year due to health reasons, the question became one of what Bush's priority would be in filling the post. Would the governor be more concerned with restoring a sense of integrity to the office, and the voting process in Seminole County, or would he place partisan politics ahead of all else?

Keep in mind the sensitivity of this issue in Seminole County, where Sandra Goard, Joyner's predecessor, was sued following the 2000 elections for alleged improprieties in the electoral process. Although the suit was ultimately unsuccessful, it left lingering questions and bad tastes in the minds and mouths of many Seminole County residents.

Joyner was elevated to the post following the resignation of Goard, whom he had served as an assistant, and Joyner asked Bush to follow the same pattern of promoting from within in naming a successor. Joyner, whose period as Supervisor included no allegations of partisan preferential treatment, recommended a current staffer to succeed him. Additionally, 12 others applied for the post, including Ertel.

Of the 13 candidates, only Ertel possessed a reputation as an outlandish partisan with no tolerance for those outside of the Republican Party, and limited tolerance for those within. When he challenged Joyner in the 2004 primary, his biggest campaign issue, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel, was a concern that Joyner was unfairly using materials from the Supervisor of Elections office to promote himself by having his name listed as the Supervisor of Elections.

Such allegations comprise the entirety of Ertel's identity in seeking public office, dating back to a failed bid for the Oviedo City Council in 1999. During that race, Ertel was often publicly attacking his opponents, prompting one of them to note "Mike Ertel's supporters should focus on the needs of the city, not trying to sling mud."

Ertel used the same approach of personal attack against Joyner, who won the primary rather easily. During the 2004 general election, members of the Democrat Party in Seminole County often characterized Ertel's as aggressively partisan during activities outside the Supervisor of Elections office during the early voting period.

Those same Democrats noted that Dennis Joyner made comments indicating his embarrassment at Ertel's behavior.

Governor Bush has now brought things full circle, appointing Ertel to the position and, in so doing, reigniting concerns of voters in Seminole County over the integrity of the electoral process. Governor Bush, with his appointment, has now completely immersed the voting process with partisan politics, rather than keeping the process above such concerns.

Voters in Seminole County had concerns with Sandra Goard, and wanted her gone. Little did they know her leaving would eventually lead to even more extreme concerns.

By the way, my favorite story about Ertel from that 1999 Oviedo campaign was his telling everyone about the embarrassment of being forced by his sister as a child to play dress-up in high heels, a skirt and lipstick. Let your imagination fill in the rest.

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