By Patrick McCallister
For Hometown News
VOLUSIA COUNTY - Ann McFall is a familiar name here. The Supervisor of Elections is making her third bid for the job.
"There's a lot of unfinished business," she said. "There's a lot coming down the next four years."
Ms. McFall said voters need a supervisor with institutional knowledge on the job.
"The biggest part of the job is making split-second decisions," she said. "Decisions that end up in court."
The former owner of McFall & Associates has been the supervisor since 2004. Before then she was a Volusia County Council member from 1998 to 2004. That followed an eight-year stint on the Volusia County School Board from 1986 to 1994.
"I love public service," she said. "It's the best."
The 60-year-old was born in Volusia County. She graduated from Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach in 1970, then headed to Stetson University, where she got a bachelor's degree in business. That was in 1986.
While the supervisor's race is non-partisan, Ms. McFall is a Republican convert. She was a Democrat until 1998. She said that as an elected official, she's always felt obligations to constituents and never to parties.
"I've stood up and gone against the grain a few times," she said.
The supervisor had announced plans to retire not long after the March 2011 death of her daughter-in-law, Sybil Elizabeth McFall, who was pregnant. Doctors were able to save the child, Jack McFall, with emergency surgery. Ms. McFall said that as family members started recovering from the tragedy, they urged her to stay on as the supervisor.
"My family sat me down and said, 'You've got to do it,'" she said.
Ms. McFall said if elected again, she intends to look into a growing trend she's noticed - some voters repeatedly having absentee ballots sent to the same addresses out of state. She wonders if some are voting multiple times in different states.
"It'll be a big issue if something shows up," she said. "I think every county should (check their absentee records)."
The supervisor is married to Robert, and they've lived in Deltona since the mid-'70s. They have two adult children, including Michelle McFall, who is a former Deltona City Commissioner, living out of the area.
www.facebook.com/AnnMcFallElections