2016 Town of Palm Beach Elections

Tuesday morning was busy and productive for the Town’s council.

The decision was made at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting to go ahead and run the 2016 Town of Palm Beach Municipal Election through the Palm Beach Election Supervisor Susan Bucher’s office. Prior to this meeting, the council was leaning towards the idea of a self- administered election so that they could avoid moving the election date. However, there were concerns about cost, time, and staffing.

In order for a self-administered election to take place, the town staff would have to hire an outside firm to count votes and the cost would be somewhere near $80,000. The reason this option was appealing, though, is because the Council would not have to change the date of the election.

2016 Town of Palm Beach Elections

The option to go with the Susan Bucher’s office, although it means changing the election date, is cheaper and more efficient for the Town of Palm Beach. Because her office is already handling the Presidential Primary race, she has offered to run the Town election for less than $2,000. This change also makes for an extended campaigning season considering the fact that the date will be pushed to a later time.

Mayor Gail Coniglio says that the decision to work with the Election Supervisor’s office was unanimously voted on by the town council. In regards to Palm Beach Islander feedback she says, “To date there has not been any negative feedback to the election changes. However, it is a break with tradition and results in a longer campaign cycle.”

The Town Caucus will now be on December 3^rd instead of January 5^th because Bucher’s office needs the information in time for ballots to be printed. The 2016 Town of Palm Beach Elections will be on March 15^th, the day of the presidential primary, versus the traditional February 2^nd.