Stories continue to surface about election problems in Palm Beach County:
- Florida elections officials to return to Palm Beach County ‘seeking answers’ to latest absentee ballot printing error
- Delays in Palm Beach County voters receiving absentee ballots likely due to bar code issue, postal workers union says
- Ballot printing problem plagues Palm Beach County (video)
- Second printing error could jeopardize another 500 Palm Beach County absentee ballots, as copying of 27,000 continues
- Copying of thousands of bad Palm Beach County absentee ballots reveals bigger issue with voter signatures
- West Palm Beach woman sues elections supervisor to challenge signature rule for absentee ballots, be allowed to vote
Duplication of ballots happens every election at every Supervisor of Elections’ office throughout the state, but usually not on this scale. Here is the statute section that governs duplications:
(5)(a) If any absentee ballot is physically damaged so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged ballot. Likewise, a duplicate ballot shall be made of an absentee ballot containing an overvoted race or a marked absentee ballot in which every race is undervoted which shall include all valid votes as determined by the canvassing board based on rules adopted by the division pursuant to s. 102.166(4). All duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled “duplicate,” bear a serial number which shall be recorded on the defective ballot, and be counted in lieu of the defective ballot. After a ballot has been duplicated, the defective ballot shall be placed in an envelope provided for that purpose, and the duplicate ballot shall be tallied with the other ballots for that precinct.
(b) A true duplicate copy shall be made of each federal write-in absentee ballot in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the federal write-in absentee ballot. The duplicate ballot must include all valid votes as determined by the canvassing board based on rules adopted by the division pursuant to s. 102.166(4). All duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled “duplicate,” bear a serial number that shall be recorded on the federal write-in absentee ballot, and be counted in lieu of the federal write-in absentee ballot. After a ballot has been duplicated, the federal write-in absentee ballot shall be placed in an envelope provided for that purpose, and the duplicate ballot shall be tallied with other ballots for that precinct.