Yesterday, the Division of Elections issued statewide guidance to all of Florida’s 67 Supervisors of Elections (the local officials that run the election system in each county), detailing exactly how provisional ballots should be counted in the general election. The guidance responds to a letter the Brennan Center and its allies sent to the Division, coupled with direct outreach by the League of Women Voters of Florida, to all 67 county Supervisors.
The Division’s response was clear: If a voter casts a provisional ballot, that ballot will be counted absent evidence of fraud or ineligibility. That means if Florida Supervisors are inundated with provisional ballots — a real concern in light of Florida’s rush to change its voting rules right before a presidential election — and run out of time to individually investigate each one, the tie goes to the voter. That’s absolutely the right call, and offers a model for other states grappling with heaps of provisional ballots.