Some Florida Supervisors of Elections Are Taking Extra Steps to Secure Voting

Electronic card keys, surveillance cameras, and additional staff are some of the measures being put in place.

Even though Florida’s new secretary of state, Cord Byrd, has said no serious incidents of election fraud have been reported in the state, some supervisors of elections have chosen to take additional security measures.

For example, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles added electronic card keys to keep workers and copy machines that print ballots behind locked doors and away from the public. 

There are also new security cameras in the office that will focus on the mail ballot collection box. When early voting starts, there will be a staff member keeping an eye on the camera between 5 a.m. and midnight each day.

“To protect the ballots, protect the voters, protect the poll workers, we had to put some things in play to make sure that in this [need for] transparency, they can observe but they cannot interfere with the process,” Cowles said.

According to WESH 2, there are nine other county supervisors that have added surveillance cameras. They are also hiring off-duty officers or additional staff to be “ballot escorts” from early voting locations.