A lawsuit against Brevard County Elections Director Tim Bobanic over alleged mishandling of his agency in processing candidate qualification documents may not be decided until after primary day on Tuesday, which could throw into doubt the outcome of the Republican local election committees’ election.
The lawsuit, filed late last month by Robert Burns, a Brevard political consultant, accuses Bobanic’s office of improperly accepting incomplete eligibility materials for at least two candidates for Republican State Committeeman, a local Republican leadership position.
Bobanic had previously stated that the employee who received the documents was fired after being made aware of the matter.
Burns, who also runs the local news site Space Coast Rocket, is asking a judge to force Bobanic to disqualify candidates Wayne Twiddy and Rep. Randy Fine from the ballot. Fine is also running for Senate, which would not be affected by this lawsuit.
A hearing on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Bobanic’s lawyers is scheduled for late Monday afternoon, less than 16 hours before polls open Tuesday.
Greg Loyd and Edward Brankey are also running for the position of Republican committee member.
If Fine or Twiddy win the election but are later disqualified by the court, Florida law would allow the vacancy to be filled by a candidate selected by a majority vote of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee, which represents only a fraction of the county’s more than 195,000 registered Republican voters.
In a court filing, Burns argued that delaying a decision in the case raises questions about voting rights and election integrity.
“What disappoints me is that Tim could remove Randy and Wayne from the ballot himself today, but he chose not to. And in the end, a judge could force him to do it, which is a problem,” Burns said. “I look forward to discussing the situation on Monday.”
In his own statement, Bobanic said, “While I cannot comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, litigation has become a weapon used all too frequently by candidates and political activists.”
Bobanic is running as an incumbent for the position of elections supervisor on Tuesday against County Commissioner John Tobia. Bobanic assumed the office in 2022 following the appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis after former elections supervisor Lori Scott took early retirement.
Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or [email protected].
