- April 24, 2024
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By Carl Laundrie
Peggy Rae Border, Flagler County’s Supervisor of Elections from 1991 to 2008, who charted the course for that office during the county’s explosive growth period, died Tuesday, May 23, after a lengthy illness. She was 78.
For nearly two decades, Border’s office was known for getting the results in fast and accurate. That reputation was established even though at the time Flagler County was noted as the fastest-growing county in the nation.
She led the county through the contested Al Gore and George W. Bush statewide presidential election recount in 2000. Flagler County had an accurate count in the recount.
Under her direction, Flagler County used the more accurate ballots that required voters to fill in black dots next to the candidate they selected, and the ballot was read by a scanner — thereby avoiding the infamous hanging chads. The system, established by her predecessor, provided both a computer count and a paper record of each ballot.
Border was appointed in 1991 by then-Governor Lawton Chiles to fill out the unexpired term of Elections Supervisor Etta Peterso, who died on May 10 of that year. Border was elected to the office in 1992 and served until 2008, when she retired.
Prior to her appointment, she worked in the Flagler County Property Appraiser’s office from 1979 to 1991. She attended Ohio State University and Daytona Beach Community College. She earned the title of State Certified Supervisor of Elections in 1993. She was a member of the Flagler Beach United Methodist Church and the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, and served on several committees of the association and hosted the association’s 1997 Winter Conference.
