(1) As soon as the polls are closed, the election board shall secure the voting devices against further voting. The election board shall thereafter, in the presence of members of the public desiring to witness the proceedings, verify the number of voted ballots, unused ballots, provisional ballots, and spoiled ballots to ascertain whether such number corresponds with the number of ballots issued by the supervisor. If there is a difference, this fact shall be reported in writing to the county canvassing board with the reasons therefor if known. The total number of voted ballots shall be entered on the forms provided. The proceedings of the election board at the precinct after the polls have closed shall be open to the public; however, no person except a member of the election board shall touch any ballot or ballot container or interfere with or obstruct the orderly count of the ballots.
(2) The results of ballots tabulated at precinct locations may be transmitted to the main computer system for the purpose of compilation of complete returns. The security guidelines for transmission of returns shall conform to rules adopted by the Department of State pursuant to s. 101.015.
(3) For each ballot or ballot image on which write-in votes have been cast, the canvassing board shall compare the write-in votes with the votes cast on the ballot; if the total number of votes for any office exceeds the number allowed by law, such votes shall not be counted. All valid votes shall be tallied by the canvassing board.
(4)(a) If any vote-by-mail ballot is physically damaged so that it cannot properly be counted by the voting system’s automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot in an open and accessible room in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged ballot. Likewise, a duplicate ballot shall be made of a vote-by-mail ballot containing an overvoted race if there is a clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice in the overvoted race or ballot measure. A duplicate shall include all valid votes as determined by the canvassing board based on rules adopted by the division pursuant to s. 102.166(4). A duplicate may be made of a ballot containing an undervoted race or ballot measure if there is a clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice in the undervoted race or ballot measure. A duplicate may not include a vote if the voter’s intent in such race or on such measure is not clear. Upon request, a physically present candidate, a political party official, a political committee official, or an authorized designee thereof, must be allowed to observe the duplication of ballots upon signing an affidavit affirming his or her acknowledgment that disclosure of election results discerned from observing the ballot duplication process while the election is ongoing is a felony, as provided under subsection (8). The observer must be allowed to observe the duplication of ballots in such a way that the observer is able to see the markings on each ballot and the duplication taking place. All duplicate ballots must 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. The duplication of ballots must happen in the presence of at least one canvassing board member. 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. If any observer makes a reasonable objection to a duplicate of a ballot, the ballot must be presented to the canvassing board for a determination of the validity of the duplicate. The canvassing board must document the serial number of the ballot in the canvassing board’s minutes. The canvassing board must decide whether the duplication is valid. If the duplicate ballot is determined to be valid, the duplicate ballot must be counted. If the duplicate ballot is determined to be invalid, the duplicate ballot must be rejected and a proper duplicate ballot must be made and counted in lieu of the original.
(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.
(5) If there is no clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice for an office or ballot measure, the elector’s ballot shall not be counted for that office or measure, but the ballot shall not be invalidated as to those names or measures which are properly marked.
(6) Vote-by-mail ballots may be counted by the voting system’s automatic tabulating equipment if they have been marked in a manner which will enable them to be properly counted by such equipment.
(7) The return printed by the voting system’s automatic tabulating equipment, to which has been added the return of write-in, vote-by-mail, and manually counted votes and votes from provisional ballots, shall constitute the official return of the election upon certification by the canvassing board. Upon completion of the count, the returns shall be open to the public. A copy of the returns may be posted at the central counting place or at the office of the supervisor of elections in lieu of the posting of returns at individual precincts.
(8) Any supervisor of elections, deputy supervisor of elections, canvassing board member, election board member, election employee, or other person authorized to observe, review, or inspect ballot materials or observe canvassing who releases any information about votes cast for or against any candidate or ballot measure or any results of any election before the closing of the polls in that county on election day commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
Cited 36 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1804707
...ing equipment" in section 102.166 when it intended to refer to the voting system rather than the vote count. Equating "vote tabulation" with "vote tabulation system" obliterates the distinction created in section 102.166 by the Legislature. Sections 101.5614(5) and (6) also support the proposition that the "error in vote tabulation" encompasses more than a mere determination of whether the vote tabulation system is functioning. Section 101.5614(5) provides that "[n]o vote shall be declared invalid or void if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter as determined by the canvassing board." Conversely, section 101.5614(6) provides that any vote in which the Board cannot discern the intent of the voter must be discarded....
Cited 13 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1998 WL 120219
...te margin of victory. Appellant asked the court to declare all of the absentee votes to be invalid and to declare him the winner based on the precinct vote alone. Appellant argued that absentee ballots were tampered with and modified in violation of section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (1995), [4] in that at least 6500 absentee ballots contained votes which were marked over with a black felt-tip marker; and an additional 1000 absentee ballots were similarly marked, but it was impossible to determine whether they were marked over or newly marked....
...The trial court determined that the key issue in the election contest was the re-marking procedure used by election officials on many of the absentee ballots so as to enable those ballots to be counted by an electronic scanner. The trial court found that this re-marking procedure was not in substantial compliance with section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (1995), because the procedure provided no reasonable substitute means of verification of the results of the election....
...election duties is unintentional wrongdoing and the will of the voters can be determined. Turning to this issue in this case, we agree with the trial court that the Volusia County process of re-marking ballots was not in substantial compliance with section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (1995), even though the process was widely used, recommended by the manufacturer's representative, and approved by the state Division of Elections....
...al candidate Fields had a 15-percent margin between absentee and precinct vote percentage totals. A statistical expert who testified on behalf of Volusia County presented demographic explanations for the absentee voting percentage discrepancies. [4] Section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (1995), provides in relevant part: If any ballot card ......
Cited 13 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1800752
...Esteva, 323 So.2d 259, 263 (Fla.1975) (emphasis added). For example, the Legislature has mandated that no vote shall be ignored "if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter" on the ballot, unless it is "impossible to determine the elector's choice." § 101.5614(5)-(6) Fla....
...legations of the complaint filed in this election contest. To test the sufficiency of those allegations and the proof, it is essential to understand what, under Florida law, may constitute a "legal vote," and what constitutes rejection of such vote. Section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (2000), provides that "[n]o vote shall be declared invalid or void if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter as determined by the canvassing board." Section 101.5614(6) provides, conversely, that any vote in which the board cannot discern the intent of the voter must be discarded....
...In tabulating the ballots and in making a determination of what is a "legal" vote, the standard to be employed is that established by the Legislature in our Election Code which is that the vote shall be counted as a "legal" vote if there is "clear indication of the intent of the voter." § 101.5614(5), Fla....
...Finally, it is plain to me that it is only in section 102.166 that there are any procedures for manual recounts which address the logistics of a recount, including who is to conduct the count, that it is to take place in public, and what is to be recounted. [28] *1267 The majority quotes section 101.5614(5) for the proposition of settling how a county canvassing board should count a vote. The majority states that "[n]o vote shall be declared invalid or void if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter as determined by the canvassing board." § 101.5614(5), Fla. Stat. (2000). Section 101.5614(5), however, is a statute that authorizes the creation of a duplicate ballot where a "ballot card ......
...is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment." There is no basis in this record that suggests that the approximately 9000 ballots from Miami-Dade County were damaged or defective. Laying aside this problem and assuming the majority is correct that section 101.5614(5) correctly annunciates the standard by which a county canvassing board should judge a questionable ballot, section 101.5614(5) utterly fails to provide any meaningful standard....
...[23] See discussion supra note 6. [24] See § 102.166(1), Fla. Stat. (2000). [25] See § 102.166(4)(b), Fla. Stat. (2000). [26] Also problematic with the majority's analysis is that the majority only requires that the "under-votes" are to be counted. How about the "over-votes?" Section 101.5614(6) provides that a ballot should not be counted "[i]f an elector marks more names than there are persons to be elected to an office," meaning the voter voted for more than one person for president....
Cited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1725434
...ing equipment" in section 102.166 when it intended to refer to the voting system rather than the vote count. Equating "vote tabulation" with "vote tabulation system" obliterates the distinction created in section 102.166 by the Legislature. Sections 101.5614(5) and (6) also support the proposition that the "error in vote tabulation" encompasses more than a mere determination of whether the vote tabulation system is functioning. Section 101.5614(5) provides that "[n]o vote shall be declared invalid or void if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter as determined by the canvassing board." Conversely, section 101.5614(6) provides that any vote in which the Board cannot discern the intent of the voter must be discarded....
...Further, although county returns must be received by 5 p.m. on the seventh day following an election, the "official results" that are to be compiled in order to certify the returns and declare who has been elected must be construed in pari materia with section 101.5614(8), which specifies that "write-in, absentee and manually counted results shall constitute the official return of the election." (Emphasis added.) Under this statutory scheme, the County Canvassing Boards are required to submit their returns to the Department by 5 p.m....
Cited 8 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 3170111
...ocedures of voting," including the counting, tabulating, and recording of votes. Chapter 101 further sets forth procedures for the canvassing of votes, and the Department of State is given authority to adopt rules to safeguard the counting of votes. § 101.5614(2)....
Cited 2 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...If the vote tabulating machine does not record a properly cast vote for one or more contests on the ballot because the ballot was damaged or defective, Florida law requires that vote to be counted and added to the machine tabulation of votes. Fla. Stat. 101.5614(5)....
...d, chads) are regarded as damaged or defective, then the initial ballot count in each county would not be complete until every ballot the tabulating machine reads as undervoted (including ballots read as totally blank) was counted in accordance with section 101.5614(5)....
Cited 1 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1867628
...The standard we directed be employed in the manual recount was the standard established by the Legislature in the Florida Election Code, i.e., that a vote shall be counted as a "legal" vote if there is a "clear indication of the intent of the voter." See id. at 1262 (citing section 101.5614(5), Florida Statutes (2000))....
Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2000 WL 1781942
...If the
vote tabulating machine does not record a properly cast vote for one or more
contests on the ballot because the ballot was damaged or defective, Florida law
requires that vote to be counted and added to the machine tabulation of votes. Fla.
Stat. § 101.5614(5)....
...The Secretary of State, pursuant to her authority under section 97.012(1),
interpreted the statutory system as the machine model. Nevertheless, the Florida
tabulating machine reads as undervoted (including ballots read as totally blank)
was counted in accordance with section 101.5614(5)....
This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.
