{"id":130133,"date":"2022-08-24T10:41:53","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=130133"},"modified":"2022-08-24T10:41:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:41:53","slug":"integrity-of-florida-elections-in-serious-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=130133","title":{"rendered":"

INTEGRITY OF FLORIDA ELECTIONS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE<\/b>

"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Report Raises Serious Concerns
\nOver Integrity of Florida Elections<\/strong><\/h1>\n

by The Epoch Times<\/p>\n

Findings revealed in a recent report raise serious concerns regarding\u00a0Florida<\/a>\u2019s level of\u00a0election integrity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the \u201cPre-Election Observation Report\u201d\u00a0released by Floridians for Election Transparency (FFET) and obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times (pdf<\/a>), there are numerous flaws, inconsistencies, and violations of Florida election laws that raise serious concerns about the election system.<\/p>\n

FFET contacted the supervisors of elections in 28 of the state\u2019s 67 counties for the study, and 18 agreed to participate. Ten others declined to comment.<\/p>\n

FFET is a committee under\u00a0Florida for America First<\/a>, which is backed by Gen. Michael Flynn\u2019s organization,\u00a0The America Project<\/a>, founded by Flynn, his brother Joe Flynn, and Patrick Byrne, founder and former CEO of Overstock.com.<\/p>\n

Michael Thompson presented the report at a press conference\u00a0in Naples, Florida, on Aug. 15.<\/p>\n

With 30 \u201cwinner take all\u201d electoral votes, Florida is now third in the electoral vote ranking, behind California (55 votes) and Texas (38 votes), and a recent surge in Republican voter registrations have made this swing state even more consequential\u00a0in the upcoming 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential cycle.<\/p>\n

Despite Florida\u2019s successful adoption of\u00a0election integrity legislation<\/a>\u00a0and Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s establishment of the nation\u2019s first Office of Election Crimes and Security, FFET pointed out in its report that \u201cpublic faith in the integrity and fairness of elections has decreased significantly in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Concerns of Election Supervisors<\/h2>\n

When the SOEs were asked if they had concerns about administering the upcoming elections, 39 percent said they were worried about\u00a0\u201cmisinformation and disinformation on the security and integrity of the election process\u201d being spread throughout their community.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot of a graphic from Floridians for Election Transparency\u2019s \u201cPre-Election Observation Report\u201d showing areas of concern expressed by Florida election officials. (Courtesy of Floridians for Election Transparency)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report stated that \u201cone supervisor was concerned that the media will propose false narratives attempting to take away the confidence of the public in the security of the election process, and another worried about voters falling prey to media misinformation about election security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another 28 percent of SOEs said they had no particular concerns about administering the upcoming elections, the second most common response to the question.<\/p>\n

The remaining supervisors\u00a0cited a myriad of other circumstances that SOEs must juggle while administering an election: redistricting, physical security, cyber security, voter education, the limited time available to adapt and train on new legislation and procedures, the tense political environment, and concerns that SOEs and poll workers might not respect the law or election integrity.<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Thompson shared the concern expressed by Broward County Supervisor of Elections\u00a0Joe Scott, who said he was most worried about physical security for election workers and feared that some voters\u00a0might see it as \u201ctheir patriotic duty\u201d to \u201cstorm\u201d the elections office to stop the workers from counting the votes.<\/p>\n

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Broward County\u2019s then-Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes explains to the canvassing board the discrepancy in vote counts during the manual recount at the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office in Lauderhill, Fla., on Nov. 17, 2018. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Broward County made national headlines in 2018 after Gov. Rick Scott\u00a0ousted former Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cmisfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty.\u201d Snipes had a long history of\u00a0losing thousands of ballots, allowing illegal immigrants and felons to vote, failure to report vote-by-mail counts on time, opening vote-by-mail ballots without the presence of a canvassing board, and illegally destroying thousands of ballots that were subject to a public records request.<\/p>\n

Inconsistent Voter Roll Management<\/h2>\n

To get a better understanding of the process of updating voter rolls, FFET asked the election supervisors how often they updated their voter rolls, such as removing those who have died or moved out of the county. Unfortunately, the answers they received\u2014once\u00a0every two years, once every year, twice a year, every four months, and \u201cnot sure\u201d\u2014reflected a troubling inconsistency that has proven to\u00a0elevate the potential<\/a>\u00a0for voter fraud.<\/p>\n

Screenshot of a graphic from Floridians for Election Transparency\u2019s \u201cPre-Election Observation Report\u201d showing inconsistent answers from election supervisors about updating the voter rolls. (Courtesy of Floridians for Election Transparency)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Considering Florida\u2019s high concentration of retirees and the elderly, with 20.5 percent of the population being over 65 according to the\u00a0U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>, so-called \u201cdirty\u201d voter rolls can be\u00a0particularly problematic.<\/p>\n

Despite consistent reports that some Florida voter rolls are \u201csuspiciously<\/a>\u201d\u00a0inaccurate and\u00a0bloated<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0inactive<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0dead<\/a> voters, every SOE questioned expressed confidence that their voter lists are accurate and up to date.<\/p>\n

One of the most troubling things FFET learned was the number of SOEs who said they rely on the\u00a0Electronic Registration Information Center<\/a>\u00a0(ERIC) for updates to their voter rolls.<\/p>\n

The Problems With \u2018ERIC\u2019<\/h2>\n

ERIC is a nongovernmental organization\u00a0created in 2012 by far-left activist\u00a0David Becker<\/a>\u00a0when he worked for\u00a0Pew Charitable Trusts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before that, Becker was a lobbyist for the advocacy group People for the American Way\u2014best known for its\u00a0Right Wing Watch<\/a>\u00a0project, which categorizes and attacks conservative politicians and movements\u2014funded by\u00a0George Soros<\/a>.\u00a0Before that, Becker was a Justice Department attorney.<\/p>\n

Florida\u00a0joined ERIC in 2019 under DeSantis and is among the 33 states and the District of Columbia that rely on ERIC for voter roll reports, but FFET recommends in its report that the state leave the voter registration system.<\/p>\n

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Third-Party Voter Registration<\/h2>\n

Rather than having new voters register in person,\u00a0Florida<\/a>\u00a0is one of 25 states that allows third-party voter registration. This means nongovernmental organizations are allowed to register voters.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0an official state website<\/a>, there are hundreds of organizations of all political persuasions collecting voter registrations throughout the state. Florida is also one of only four states that allows unfettered access to the state\u2019s voter registration database, but\u00a0new legislation<\/a>\u00a0proposes to shield certain information from view, such as a voter\u2019s\u00a0date of birth, email address,\u00a0phone number, and party affiliation.<\/p>\n

Screenshot of a graphic from Floridians for Election Transparency\u2019s \u201cPre-Election Observation Report\u201d showing low confidence that third-party voter registrations are collected without bribery, intimidation, and coercion in Florida. (Courtesy of Floridians for Election Transparency)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asked if they are \u201cconfident that third-party registration takes place without bribery, intimidation, or coercion, and are confident that only qualified voters are registered through these third parties,\u201d less than half (44 percent) of the supervisors said yes.<\/p>\n

About 17 percent were not confident in the integrity of third party voter registrations, and 39 percent were unsure.<\/p>\n

Because third-party voter registration is conducted primarily by organizations with clear political agendas, and takes place without any oversight or security protocols, FFET believes it \u201cdamages voter confidence in the voter list and election process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the primary obligation of any election administrator is to ensure the integrity of an election in their area, FFET recommends that Florida only allow in-person voter registration at county election and administrative offices.<\/p>\n

Voting in Nursing Homes<\/h2>\n

There have been numerous reports of\u00a0rampant<\/a>\u00a0voter\u00a0fraud<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0nursing homes<\/a>\u00a0across the country, including those\u00a0Florida<\/a>. Because Florida has a large population of senior citizens and residents in care homes, FFET asked the SOEs to explain how their office manages voting in nursing homes.<\/p>\n

The most striking aspect of the responses was how much their answers varied.<\/p>\n

One supervisor admitted treating a nursing home as an official precinct. Several said they simply sent blank ballots to the facilities and collected them after the election. Others said they only sent ballots if they were requested, and one admitted taking ballots to the facility and leaving them for the staff to distribute and return.<\/p>\n

These practices are in violation of ballot chain of custody requirements as outlined in a 2021 report (pdf<\/a>) by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. When divulging these illegal practices, none of the SOEs mentioned the presence of poll watchers, elections staff, poll workers, or any other security measures.<\/p>\n

Voting Machines<\/h2>\n

Following widespread reports of what some described as a well-crafted endeavor to successfully rig the 2020 election in Biden\u2019s favor, FFET asked how ballot tabulators were used in Florida\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

When asked if voting machines are ever connected to the internet, 13 of the SOEs said no. However, five
\nsaid yes, and offered various explanations, such as:<\/p>\n

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