It鈥檚 August of an election year in Florida, meaning that it is time for voters to contend with the proliferation of voter- and election-related scams as well as changes to election laws, including modifications to vote-by-mail that could spark longer lines at polling booths.
As a result, Palm Beach County election officials are launching a series of and campaigns across TV, newsletters and social media platforms, to get voters informed for the primaries this month and general elections in November.
Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link said their work begins with tackling what Homeland Security refers to as MDM: misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.
鈥淎s you get into elections, particularly presidential elections, that's when we have concerns 鈥� whether it's deniers, people trying to disrupt the elections or perhaps even foreign influence with people trying to send bad information out to folks,鈥� Link said.
She said the PSA campaign plans to 鈥渇lood the area with accurate information and make it very available to our voters."
Stopping election scammers head on
Link told 港澳天下彩the campaign started after reports of local voters receiving calls, emails and texts from scammers posing as election officials to try to steal valuable information.
One email asked people to 鈥渧erify that this is their current address and verify that they received their vote by mail,鈥� Link said.
"We learned of another one that said, 鈥楥lick on this to verify your information in order for your vote to be counted.鈥� And it looks again like they, they tried to make it look like it came from our office," she said.
READ MORE: As early voting begins, here is how and where to vote in South Florida
Link said the office does not send those kind of emails and asks voters to refer directly to her office for anything voting or election related inquiries.
"I think the important thing for people is, if you get something that seems odd, that somebody is asking you to add to give your personal identifying information, call our office,鈥� she said.
Common scams from cybercriminals include fake online surveys and polls as well as political donation and voter registration scams.
Vote-by-mail registration is down, more in-person voting
Republican lawmakers made vote-by-mail harder, which could lead to a steep decline in the number of mail-in ballots this year compared to the 2022 midterms, Link said.
In 2021, in response to false election fraud claims following the 2020 presidential election, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law controversial restrictions on voting in Florida 鈥� stringent elections rules that limit the use of drop boxes and place restrictions on mail-in ballot collections.
"This is the first time, the first major election, following the law change related to vote by mail,鈥� Link said. 鈥淪o after the general election in 2022, all vote by mail requests were wiped away. And so if a voter wants to vote by mail, they have to make a brand new request.鈥�
The SOE used to allow voters to check a box on their previous vote by mail envelope, which made it easier request for the next one. Now, election officials aren't permitted to do that under the law. Voters have to contact the office by phone, do an online request or mail a state-wide approved form to make a vote by mail request, Link said.
The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot was on Aug. 8. Early voting is from Aug. 10-18. Primary election day is Aug. 20.
Link expects longer lines during the primaries as many people may miss the request deadline.
"We're anticipating that a lot of the previous vote-by-mail folks may in fact now be early voting,鈥� Link added. "If vote-by-mail stays as low as it is, there will be longer lines on election day and early voting.鈥�
There are . The main Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office recently moved to a new location, at 4301 Cherry Rd, West Palm Beach. It includes the official tabulation center, where ballots are counted, and drop-off boxes.
Increased interest related to the 6 amendments on the November ballot, such as abortion and recreational marijuana for adults, has pressured Link to increase voting sites to accommodate the possible influx of new in-person voters, she said.
In the meantime, the 港澳天下彩News team and our public media partners across Florida have put together this guide to help you decide who gets your vote for the federal and state races in the 2024 election cycle and an explainer for voting in South Florida.
Primary ballot question
In Palm Beach County, there is one county-wide, business tax question that will be found on the August primary ballot.
Every 10 years, Palm Beach County is required to ask voters whether to continue an economic development program that attracts companies through tax incentives.
The ballot question asks voters to decide whether the program should continue giving property tax exemptions to qualified new and expanding businesses that provide full-time jobs in the county.
to view a series of Public Service Announcements for Palm Beach County's Supervisor of Elections. And for all voter and election inquiries, visit:
