BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE— Union County Supervisor of Elections Deborah K. Osborne said the county’s canvassing board rejected one ballot for the Aug. 23 primaries. The Bradford County Board also rejected one ballot, while the Clay County canvassing board tossed 350 ballots.
Under Florida law, the canvassing board in each county is responsible for testing tabulation equipment, overseeing vote counts, adjudicating provisional ballots, certifying election results and supervising post-election audits.
Osborne said the canvassing board in Union, which consisted of herself, County Judge Mitchell Bishop and County Commission Chair Jimmy Tallman, rejected the mail-in ballot because the signature on the ballot’s return envelope did not match the signature on file with her office. Since the voter failed to provide proof of authenticity within the two-day deadline, the canvassing board rejected the votes.
Bradford man voted in wrong primary
Bradford elections chief Amanda Seyfang said the rejected ballot in her county occurred because a voter insisted on voting in one party’s primary while he was registered for a different party.
The Bradford elections chief said the canvassing board, consisting of herself, County Commission Chair Chris Dougherty and County Judge D. Tatum Davis, also accepted two provisional ballots.
Seyfang reported that the signatures of two mail-in ballots did not match the signatures on file with her office. However, in both cases, the voters provided documentation proving the authenticity of the mail-in ballots.
Late returns for mail-in ballots
In Clay County, 350 ballots were rejected. Elections chief Chris Chambless said the majority: 291 were mail-in ballots that were either mailed or received by his office after the 7 p.m., Aug. 23 deadline.
Seventeen mail-in ballots were rejected because the voter did not sign the return envelope. Five mail-in ballots came in from previous elections and were tossed. One voter, who had moved out of the county before the Aug. 23 primary, sent in a Clay County mail-in ballot, and the canvassing board rejected those votes.
In addition to Chambless, County Commission Chair Wayne Bolla and County Judge Tim Collins comprised the canvassing board.
One ballot was rejected because the voter who signed the envelope did not request the ballot.
One mail-in ballot was rejected because the word “deceased” was written on the signature line of the return envelope mailed back to the Supervisor of Elections office.
Audits verify accuracy
State law requires that each county randomly select one precinct from one race after every election and compare a hand recount to the machine count results.
All three elections chiefs said that their audits resulted in a perfect match between the machine counts and the hand recounts.
Clay County’s Republican primary for Agriculture Commissioner in Precinct 400 was selected for audit. Precinct 400 was located at the Orange Cove Seventh Day Adventist Church in Fleming Island.
The Bradford audit recounted the Republican primary for U.S. Congress in Precinct 3, located at the county’s senior center on U.S. 301.
The Union County audit reviewed the county commission primary in Precinct 4B, located at the Providence Community Center.
