The Seminole County Supervisor of Elections is charged with creating a safe, accessible, and uncontroversial voting process for Seminole County voters. However, the 2024 primary race for that very position seems more contentious than ever before.
Seminole County voters might already be familiar with the two Republican candidates vying for the Supervisor of Elections position, incumbent Chris Anderson and former school board member Amy Pennock. Chris Anderson was formally challenged by Amy Pennock back in June 2024. Since then, this primary race, which is the only one in Seminole County with two Republicans vying for one seat, has been a rollercoaster ride of accusations of racism and multiple lawsuits.
The most recent of these events concern Chris Anderson’s position as current Supervisor of Elections and how he allegedly has abused his power of authority to manipulate voters. Letters sent by the Seminole County attorney on August 9 and 12 to the Florida Division of Elections and Office of Election Crimes and Security respectively detail how the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections office provided sample ballots to county residents with Chris Anderson’s name printed twice: once in the ballot’s “designated voting area” and again in the “margin of the sample ballot,” which is outside of the voting area.
The letters allege that printing Chris Anderson’s name twice on the sample ballots violates Florida Statute 101.20. This statute is designed to ensure that sample ballots accurately reflect the ballot that voters will fill out on election day. The county attorney also suggests that the sample ballot may be construed as a campaign advertisement for Chris Anderson despite being paid for by taxpayer dollars on behalf of the Supervisor of Elections.
The Seminole County attorney has asked for the state attorney to investigate this matter further. The state attorney’s office has not responded to requests for commentary.
This letter comes on the heels of another hurdle in Chris Anderson’s reelection campaign. Michael Towers, a Longwood business owner, filed a lawsuit against Anderson on August 14th for violating two Florida Statutes through his conduct as a Supervisor of Elections. Towers, represented by attorney Philip Kaprow of Kaprow Law, alleges that Anderson used his position as Supervisor of Elections to solicit voters within polling places and influence voters about his own reelection campaign.
In an exclusive interview, Philip Kaprow stated that this civil lawsuit was more than the sample ballot issue, though it certainly played a part.
“You can’t do anything in your official capacity […] that is in any way, form or manner, soliciting support for your campaign,” Kaprow said.
He gave additional examples cited in the lawsuit. These include placing Anderson’s Supervisor of Elections logo on signage within Florida’s 150 foot “No Solicitation Zone,” Anderson shaking hands with voters during early voting at the Supervisor of Elections office and replacing the Supervisor of Elections logo with a version that seemingly has Anderson’s name in a larger font.
Kaprow says this is why the lawsuit is asking for an emergency injunction to be granted before the primary election on August 20. The lawsuit also asks for clarification from the courts on what incumbent Supervisor of Elections can and cannot do within the 150 foot No Solicitation Zone.
“If an emergency injunction is not granted, I’m not sure there should be such a thing anymore,” Kaprow said.
Both Towers and Kaprow are also financial contributors to Anderson’s rival, Amy Pennock. According to public records, Towers contributed $896.66 in host expenses on March 5, 2024 to Pennock’s campaign. Kaprow Law contributed a further $300 on January 21 of this year and Philip Kaprow’s wife Sara contributed $92.40 for campaign shirts the same day.
Additionally, Kaprow candidly admitted he has known Amy Pennock for years, representing her in previous campaigns and being a “source of advice for her.” For this lawsuit, however, he was firm in stating that Pennock and himself did not have a conflict of interest.
“I told her she needs to focus on the election, and she told me she needs to focus on the election,” he said.
To make matters more complicated, Philip Kaprow was an employee of Chris Anderson under the Supervisor of Elections office until September 2023, when he resigned amid a dispute over possible misrepresentation of accusations of racism. Anderson accused Kaprow of trying to write that Anderson never faced racial discrimination in exchange for a building project having higher chances for approval. Kaprow says it was simply a discussion about calming the situation down and that there was no new building. Anderson also unsuccessfully tried to get Kaprow fired from his job as the Seminole county canvassing board attorney in November of that year, claiming that Kaprow sent a letter to the Department of State about “incompetence” within Anderson’s office.
In response, Kaprow has filed another lawsuit last month against Anderson seeking damages over $50,000 for defamatory statements Anderson allegedly made during this dispute. That lawsuit is still pending. Notably, Kaprow is the plaintiff in this lawsuit.
It is unclear whether the letters sent by the Seminole County attorney and Michael Towers’ lawsuit are related.
In a statment of her own, Amy Pennock said “it is unfortunate that the incumbent who is responsible for enforcing the campaigning laws at poll sites does not feel obligated to follow those same laws. No one is above the law, and when tasked with an obligation as significant as the security of the vote, you must be above any indication of impropriety. That standard is not being met now, and it is disappointing for all those that respect the sanctity of the office.”
“As he enforces the laws with other candidates, he should do the same with his campaign. You cannot be a law maker and a law breaker at the same time,” she said.
Chris Anderson was not able to comment much at the moment.
"Well, unfortunately, because they have filed a lawsuit, my attorneys have advised me not to make any comments about it at this time so I am unable to do that, but I look forward to talking to you about it once it's all resolved,” he said.
Additional information and injunction paperwork came at the time of press. See updates in the next edition.
