Theresa LePore is a former Supervisor of Elections for

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She designed the infamous "

butterfly ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

" used in the 2000 presidential election. This would lead the

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

to nickname her "Madame Butterfly". Following the controversial results of the 2000 election, she lost her re-election bid in September 2004 and left office in January 2005.

Career

LePore grew up in Palm Beach County, attending Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. She started her career in the Supervisor of Elections Office in 1971 as a file clerk. She quickly rose through the ranks and achieved the position of Chief Deputy Supervisor in the late 1970s. During the 1980s she also moonlighted as a ramp clerk at

Palm Beach International Airport Palm Beach International Airport is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, located just west of the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, which it serves as the primary airport for. It is also the primary airport for most o ...

. In 1996 LePore changed her political party registration to Democratic after deciding to run for the position of Supervisor of Elections. She was elected as the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections in November, 1996 and re-elected without opposition in November, 2000. In 2004 she lost re-election as Election Supervisor. Prior to the election she had changed her political party designation to independent. After leaving the Supervisor of Elections Office in January, 2005, she was employed by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office for a short period, enabling her to receive her full pension from Palm Beach County. She then worked at her alma mater, Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida as director of development. until January 2009. LePore is (or was) a member of the following organizations: *

American Society of Public Administration American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is a membership association of almost 10,000 professionals in the United States sponsoring conferences and providing professional services primarily to those who study the implementation of gover ...

* The Election Center *

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizatio ...

of Flagler Sunrise *

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

* International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers * Women's

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

of the Palm Beaches * Florida State Association of Supervisors of Election. Theresa served terms as Secretary, Vice-President, and President of FSASE. * Executive Women of the Palm Beaches * The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of PBC * Hispanic Human Resources Council * Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida She is writing a book about the 2000 election and the butterfly ballot she designed.

Election controversy

In 2000, to accommodate the large number of presidential candidates eligible in Florida, LePore designed a staggered two-page format with candidate names on alternating sides of a central punch button column. Conservatives falsely commented that the same ballot was successfully used in the 1996 election; in fact, it had never been used in a Palm Beach County election among rival candidates for office. In 2000, the confusing design led to an increased number of miscast votes in the presidential election (votes that would otherwise have been a decisive reversal) and consequently achieved notoriety. A study by ''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'' speculated that voters confused by Palm Beach County's butterfly ballot cost Al Gore the presidency.

Popular culture

Jay Roach Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', ''Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''. Roach also ea ...

's ''

Recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

'', LePore is played by

Jayne Atkinson Jayne Atkinson (born 18 February 1959) is a British-American actress. She is best known for the role of Karen Hayes on '' 24'', as well as her Tony Award–nominated roles in '' The Rainmaker'' and '' Enchanted April''. She has also appeared in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepore, Theresa County officials in Florida Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Florida Atlantic University alumni People from Palm Beach County, Florida People associated with the 2000 United States presidential election 2000 United States presidential election in Florida Women in Florida politics 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Florida Democrats