Staff confidence in Seminole County elections chief reportedly declines

Confidence inside Seminole County’s elections office has reportedly weakened as Amy Pennock works through the fallout from a bitter leadership change and a list of operational failures that reach into voter registration, poll-worker management and ballot processing. Pennock defeated former Supervisor Chris Anderson in the August 2024 Republican primary and took office in January 2025, but sources close to the office say the internal mood has grown less supportive in recent months.

The concerns Pennock described to county commissioners in May 2025 were not limited to one paperwork problem. She said an internal review found the office was not in records-retention compliance and was missing or lacked human resources files, contracts and emails. Pennock also said the review found 92 W-2 corrections for poll workers, late vendor payments, candidate financial-record problems that led to fines, and a failure to verify E-Verify for a significant portion of poll workers hired during the 2024 election cycle.

For voters, those problems matter because they sit at the center of election administration. Poll workers have to be recruited, hired and paid correctly. Candidate filings have to be processed cleanly. Vendors have to be paid on time to keep the office functioning. If those systems are unstable, the risk is not just embarrassment inside the office but slower service, heavier staff turnover and avoidable errors as Seminole County moves toward another full election cycle.

Pennock also told commissioners that the office faced more than $161,000 in legal fees that had not been budgeted for 2024/2025, a cost she said would likely require a budget transfer. Seminole County’s FY2025/26 budget process included her office in a Board of County Commissioners work session on May 20, 2025, with later hearings scheduled for June 17, July 22, July 29, September 10 and September 23, 2025. County audit findings later added another layer of strain, reporting that Anderson used more than $161,000 in taxpayer funds to pay personal legal fees.

The county’s 2024 annual comprehensive financial report lists Christopher Anderson as supervisor of elections for FY2024 and notes Pennock as the newly elected supervisor effective January 1, 2025. Pennock’s office later said it was rebuilding trust, transparency and election readiness, and it hosted an inaugural Voter Advocacy Workgroup on September 16, 2025 to identify barriers to voting and practical solutions. With Florida’s primary set for August 18, 2026 and the general election on November 3, 2026, Seminole County voters will be watching whether reform efforts can restore confidence without disrupting the office’s core work.