Early voting for the November general election began in some parts of Florida and the rest of the country this week, and some voters have complained about suspicious problems with voting machines.
Reportedly, when some voters tried to cast votes on touch screen voting machines for Democratic candidates, their votes were repeatedly switched to Republican choices.
Florida does not use voting machines because the state requires paper ballots. However, voters may use ExpressVote ballot-marking devices for accessibility instead of manually filling in the little bubbles on the ballots. Voters make their selections onscreen, and the devices print those selections on a ballot, which the voter then submits.
Some voters in Palm Beach and Duval counties have
also reported seeing selections appear for candidates they didn't want, using the touch screen devices.
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According to county election supervisors, the problem may be extremely sensitive screens that register grazes from fingers or long fingernails as touches, causing the voter to select the option above or below the one they aimed at.
Early voting begins statewide on Oct. 24, but several counties have opted to expand their early voting periods. More than 552,000 voters had already cast ballots as of Oct. 22, in addition to more than 1.1 million who returned vote-by-mail ballots, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Here's what to know before you cast your vote.
Voters claim Tennessee voting machines switching their votes
Most of the initial reports came from Tennessee voters, including Dolly Parton's sister Stella Parton, who on Oct. 21 encouraged voters to double-check their ballots after she said it took her three attempts to select her preferred candidate.
"I finally called over a poll worker when my ballot kept flipping to the wrong candidate on the third try," she said. "No, this is not a joke! But what good is your vote if the machines are ‘fixed’ this is the issue here."
Similar claims have appeared across social media.
"There is a very disturbing trend being seen in early voting. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio are reporting difficulties getting the machines to accept democratic votes. The machines change them back to Republican unless the voter persists, pressing several times to get the correct vote to go through," an X user wrote.
Does Florida use voting machines?
No. Florida requires paper ballots.
However, the state allows counties to provide an accessible voting solution, such as a ballot marking device or a precinct scanner. The ExpressVote ballot marker works in a similar way to a voting machine, but it prints the voter's choices on a paper ballot for the voter to submit rather than casting any votes.
Since they also operate with touch screens, they may be susceptible to mistouches.
Are voting machines intentionally switching votes to other candidates?
The problem may be a combination of extra-sensitive screens and thick fingers or long fingernails, according to Palm Beach County election chief Wendy Link.
"A gentleman who had a larger hand was hitting the top of the (Democratic) candidate that he wanted but it was hitting the bottom of the other candidate," a Republican, Link told the Palm Beach Post.
Someone with "very long fingernails" ran into the same problem, she said. Link advised voters to use a special voting stick or stylus to use instead. The sticks are available upon request.
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said in an email Thursday that Duval received four complaints.
"Each voter was using their finger and not the stylus provided," he said. "Those with longer fingernails had the issues when their nails touch above (their) selection."
This isn't the first time it's happened. In 2024, a Kentucky voter shared a video on X, since removed. In it, she repeatedly tried to select the Republican ticket for Donald Trump and JD Vance, but the screen was slow to respond and finally registered a vote for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz instead. She was also using a ballot marking device.
The Kentucky Attorney General's Office was only able to recreate the error once by touching areas between the names, according to Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown in a Facebook post. The voter was able to vote for her preferred candidate, Brown said.
Are touchscreen voting machines safe?
All electronic or electromechanical voting systems in Florida have several layers of security, according to the FDOE. They go through multiple independent certifications under a well-documented closed chain-of-custody, and all members of the testing and certification team are required to pass a level-two criminal background check.
If new or updated software is needed, the disks are sent to the FDOE, which verifies their accuracy before they are sent to each county for installation.
All of the equipment goes through a required process called Logic and Accuracy (L&A) publicly before every election.
"This includes the testing of the DS300 optical scanners used during in-person voting, the DS950 high-speed scanners, which tabulate Vote-by-Mail ballots, and the ADA-compatible ExpressVote ballot marking devices," the Collier County Supervisor of Elections website said.
Once tested, the machines are secured and sealed until voting begins. Access to the machines is strictly controlled and requires at least two or more pieces of information to verify the identity of the person accessing the system.
Counties also follow their own strict chain-of-custody and physical inventory processes for all voting system devices and ballots, the FDOE said, including steps in ballot processing that are kept away from internet access.
On Oct. 18, Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies announced she had swapped out the voting tabulator machines used to count votes at the Big Pine Community Park early voting site after it was discovered the door to that site was unlocked. She also replaced the electronic voter identification systems used to register voters at Big Pine.
"While the election equipment was not compromised, we acted to ensure voter confidence in the election results," she said in a release.
How can I make sure my ballot is filled out accurately?
Double-check your choices. Voters using the ExpressVote machine have several opportunities to verify their selections before casting a ballot:
- On the screen: When you make your choice, touch the name as closely and carefully as you can and make sure the candidate(s) you really want are the ones showing as selected. Request and use a voting stick for more accuracy, especially if you have large fingers or long fingernails.
- Review screen: The device will display all of your choices before it gives you back your completed ballot. If anything is incorrect, back up and redo it.
- Paper ballot: After you receive your printed ballot, examine it to make sure it's accurate before casting it.
If there are any issues, immediately notify a poll worker or your local county election commission so the issue can be addressed before the ballot is cast.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida voters report touch-screen issues. How to check your ballot
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