An election official in Florida’s Republican Bay County allowed victims of Hurricane Michael to illegally cast ballots by email and fax machine.
It’s just the latest irregularity in a messy election in the Sunshine State, where three statewide races have gone into mandatory recount — and Republican candidates have lost their election night leads — because of late reporting in Broward and Palm Beach counties over the last week.
Still, Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen defended his decision to accepted 11 ballots by email and 147 through fax to accommodate those displaced by the storm, the Miami Herald reported, saying: “When devastation happens, leaders rise to the top and make decisions.”
Florida illegally let email, fax votes go through
Andersen’s heart was in the right place, but Florida doesn’t allow voting through email and restricts voting by fax machine to Floridians who are overseas or members of the military. The votes that were faxed in came from within the state.
But Andersen was unapologetic about his decision to help voters affected by the hurricane cast their vote, even if it required breaking election law. He said that the votes were validated with signatures and that voters had to sign an oath.
“If I can validate it with a signature, the ballot is there, how is that different than a ballot that comes in through the post office?” he asked. “I will not change my mind on this, not for these voters.”
Supervisors defend decision
Florida Gov. Rick Scott took action before the election to help voters displaced by the storm in eight Panhandle counties including Bay cast their ballot, issuing an executive order allowing for extended early voting and other measures while warning that “voting by fax or email is not an option.” But Andersen argued that the duration of the storm’s impact could not have been predicted when the order was rolled out, and said he informed the state before election day that he planned to accept ballots by email.
“We did what we could. I’m sure I’m not the only county,” Andersen said. “I know there were a lot of displaced voters.”
Other counties that were affected by the hurricane took measures such as allowing voters to receive absentee ballots at temporary addresses while they took refuge from the storm. Franklin County Supervisor of Elections Heather Riley said that they only accepted 12 ballots through fax or mail that came from overseas and military voters, and Washington County Supervisor of Elections Carol Rudd said she did not and would not have accepted emailed ballots.
Democrat Gillum condemns
In a shift, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum — who has been a staunch advocate for counting every vote this year, even accusing Republicans of wanting to suppress the vote after President Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Gov. Scott urged a shut down of the recount amid fears that Democrats were trying to steal elections — also condemned the illegal votes. Gillum is hoping to win in a recount after initially conceding to Republican Ron DeSantis on election night.
“These are the stories that we know. Imagine the ones that we don’t,” Gillum said, appearing to suggest that Republican voter fraud was widespread.
Bay County, where Andersen accepted the illegal ballots, is strongly Republican. More than 70 percent of voters in Bay County went for DeSantis and Scott, who is seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in one of three statewide races that entered a recount over the weekend.
But for Andersen, it’s no partisan matter.
“I [couldn’t] care less who wins. I don’t care,” Andersen said. “I care about the people that were able to vote, have their votes. I thought that’s what everyone else did too.”
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