Supervisor Of Elections Melissa Blazier Sat On The Collier County November 2024 General Election Canvassing Board. [Collier County Public Legal Notice, accessed 9/24/24]
Melissa Blazier Was Collier County Supervisor Of Elections During The 2024 Election Cycle. [My Florida Elections via Wayback Machine, Supervisors of Elections, view from 10/6/24]
Republican Melissa Blazier Was Reelected Collier County Supervisor Of Elections Serving 2025 Through 2028. [Collier County, August 2024 Primary Election Results, accessed 1/16/25]
Melissa Blazier Opposed A Collier County Resolution “For A Legally Valid 2024 General Election” That Claimed There Were A Number Of Irregularities. “Last week the Collier County commissioners considered the ‘Collier County Resolution for a Legally Valid 2024 General Election.’ Proposed by Commissioner Chris Hall at the behest of an organization named United Sovereign Americans, it lists numerous instances of purported election irregularity without offering any substantiating facts, as well as suggested actions to improve election integrity. Most ‘remedies’ proposed are either already enshrined in Florida law or contrary to existing statutes, as Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier explained in a letter to Commissioner Hall. Opposing Supervisor of Elections candidates Tim Guerette and Dave Schaffel spoke in support of a resolution. The other four members of the Board of County Commissioners agreed not to vote on the proposed resolution. The Supervisor of Elections position will be on the ballot in August. Melissa Blazier has over 18 years of experience in the Supervisor's office and Collier County elections are conducted strictly according to state statutes. Many NDN readers follow national politics. I urge you to look in your own backyard and carefully consider what is happening in Collier County, not only in this instance but in others. Subscribe to Sandy Parker's free newsletter sparkers-soapbox.com/ and become informed, as I have about this issue and many others that would have escaped my attention. Mary Jo Nolin, Naples” [Naples Daily News, Mary Jo Noplin, 5/1/24; Collier County FL, Action Item 28250, accessed 6/20/24]
Melissa Blazier Opposed Hand Counting Ballots, Said It Was Not Legal Under Current Law, And That Machines Were More Accurate Than People. Q: “When I was here the last time, Alfie Oakes [Francis Alfred ‘Alfie’ Oakes III, the farmer, grocer, conservative activist and Republican committeeman] was challenging the notion of electronic voting—he was at least the most outspoken person in favor of paper ballots. Jennifer said, ‘It’s not legal, it’s not the law.’ Now that you’re supervisor, do you have a response to that?” A: “The state of Florida is all paper. We all use paper ballots. His contention is with the scanners actually tabulating the results of those paper ballots. I believe that they would like us to—and it’s not just him, it’s the CCREC [the Collier County Republican Executive Committee]. They passed a resolution to hand count all ballots, I think it said, for all elections. The impression I get is that they’re most interested in the top races on the ballot and not the others but I believe the resolution was shared with our legislative delegation and there it stays.” Q: “Because making that change would have to be done at the state level?” A: “Yes. It would have to be changed in law. That’s not something we can decide to do. And certainly not, given the deadlines we have to certify an election, it’s not possible to hand count—and I’m talking about one race. When you think about the general election ballot, we have over 30 contests on that ballot, with over a hundred different ballot styles that we would potentially have to hand count. I know that no one likes to hear this, but machines are more accurate than human beings are.” [The Paradise Progressive, 7/3/23]
Melissa Blazier Criticized Her Opponent For Sharing Misinformation – “Nonsense That Erodes Confidence In Our Electoral Process.” “This is the kind of nonsense that erodes confidence in our electoral process. Misinformation at its finest! Were there 18 rejected provisional ballots in the PPP election for voters ‘disputing’ party affiliation? Yes. Were they in the City of Naples? NOPE! And regardless, their ballots would have been cast illegally. So the real question is this… do you want someone promoting the acceptance of illegal ballots in elections? I think not.” [Facebook, Melissa Blazier, 3/28/24]