Several Florida counties were still counting provisional ballots Friday afternoon as three statewide races were within the margin triggering an automatic retabulation, and voters across the state are concerned their ballots might not get counted before a deadline of noon Saturday for counties to submit their election results to Secretary of State Ken Detzner, after which he will likely order recounts in tight races.
Others know it’s already too late for their votes to count. Orange Park resident Chelsea Chacon said she mailed in her absentee ballot a week before the election. When she saw how close the results were on Wednesday, she called the Clay County Supervisor of Elections Office to make sure her ballot had been counted.
She was told it never arrived.
“Upon inquiring further, they were like, ‘Well there’s nothing we can really do because we still haven’t gotten it,’” she told WJCT News. “So it was just a very disappointing mistake made — I’m assuming — by the Postal Service.”
She acknowledged that she could have checked earlier, but never thought it would be an issue because she’d been voting by mail for years.
“I don’t ever want to experience this again,” she said. “I won’t be doing absentee ballot ever again. I’ll be early voting, without a doubt.”
Meanwhile, voters including former Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy said their mail-in ballots were received but not counted due to invalid signatures.
Hey @MarcACaputo, just saw notice from @PBCounty that my absentee ballot wasn’t counted due to ‘invalid signature’ match. Should be +1 @NelsonForSenate @AndrewGillum. Must overhaul these ridiculous barriers to voting #FloridaRecount #FLSen #FLGov
— Patrick Murphy (@PatrickMurphyFL) November 9, 2018
Florida law states vote-by-mail ballots will be counted only if the voter’s signature on the ballot matches the signature in the registration books or precinct register.
If the signature is a mismatch, the voter is required to submit a “cure affidavit” before 5 p.m. on the day before the election. That means the signature on that affidavit must match the voter’s signature in the registration books or precinct register, and the canvassing board must be able to confirm the identity of the voter with certain accepted forms of identification.
If the signature on the ballot is judged to not match the signature on record at the elections office and the “cure affidavit” isn’t completed and approved, the vote-by-mail ballot in question will be considered illegal and will not be counted.
Sen. Bill Nelson’s campaign filed a lawsuit Friday challenging that signature-judging process.
His Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Gov. Rick Scott, has filed his own lawsuits against election supervisors in two counties, Broward and Palm Beach, where vote-by-mail ballots are still being counted.
For up to date election results, see the Florida Divison of Elections.
Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.
