110 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL
386-734-4622
Susan Pynchon has lived in DeLeon Springs for more than 10 years. Prior to moving to Florida, she lived in Maine, where her stepdaughter and three grandchildren still reside. She has four brothers and two sisters.
She has been the executive director for Florida Fair Elections Coalition and Florida Fair Elections Center since 2004.
Pynchon was an elected member of the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District school board in Wells, Maine, for two years.
She is co-founder of the Florida Voters Coalition, has served on the Advisory Board of VoteTrustUSA, and is a member of the Election Protection Coalition, the League of Women Voters, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Pynchon participated in election-reform conferences in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Minneapolis, Kissimmee and DeLand.
She has affiliations with, or endorsements from, the Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the Central Florida AFL-CIO, the Volusia Teachers Organization, the Volusia Educational Support Association, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Association (Plumbers and Pipefitters), the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the United Auto Workers, Communication Workers of America, and the American Postal Workers Union.
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Voter turnouts in Volusia County are at acceptable levels.
1 — Comment: Volusia County had only a 10.6 percent turnout in the August primary election, compared to 31.23 percent in Leon County and 24.2 percent in Flagler County, so it is clear that much more needs to be done to improve voter turnout as described in my Volusia Votes! intiative at http://susanforsupervisor.com/issues.html#volusiavotes
The Elections Supervisor should be the first line of defense in assuring that only qualified citizens vote.
3 — Comment: The Elections Supervisor is bound to uphold all election laws and to train poll workers according to the law, but I am far more concerned about qualified voters being prevented from voting (tens of thousands in past Florida elections) than I am about unqualified persons attempting to vote (approximately 7 prosecutions statewide in the past several years).
Full public access should be allowed at the Historical Courthouse and grounds, even during elections.
3 — Comment: The Elections office should be moved out of the Historic Courthouse for a number of reasons, including restriction of public access to the courthouse during elections (due to requirements such as the mandatory 100 foot setback from polling places), as well as the fact that the interior layout of the courthouse divides election functions into many small rooms that prevent the public and the Canvassing Board from seeing what is going on during elections (the former location on Florida Avenue, which is still vacant, was far more transparent and did not interfere with access to the Historic Courthouse).
Accomplishment of which you are most proud: Receiving the 2008 Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties award from the Florida ACLU for "defending voting rights in Florida," based on my efforts and accomplishments as a full-time, volunteer, election-integrity advocate over the past 4 years.
Public-service goal you have yet to achieve: If elected Supervisor of Elections, I plan to make Volusia County a model for the state and for the nation with respect to transparent, secure elections; the accurate counting of all votes; and thorough post-election audits.
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