A new election transparency report lists voting in nursing homes and detention facilities as among the top 10 concerns for election integrity in Florida.
Issued on Aug. 15, the Floridians for Election Transparency Pre-Election Observation Report found that how election supervisors managed voting in nursing homes and detention facilities varied.
“There's just so much inconsistency when it comes to a lot of different guidelines on how they're supposed to operate,” said Michael Thompson, state director for Florida for America First, a nonpartisan social and welfare organization that is affiliated with Gen. Michael Flynn's The America Project. “That was my biggest surprise.”
In some cases, ballots were dropped off at the front desk of these institutions.
“Then someone in the front office fills it out, takes them around to people, and has them sign it,” Thompson told the Florida Record. “You never know who is going to fill those ballots in. We do have people who we're currently working within north Florida who work inside nursing homes who have told us that this is exactly how it goes down at their nursing home.”
The report recommends that the Florida Department of Elections develop uniform procedures for voting in care homes and institutions and provide for the presence of poll watchers.
“Once a week, the supervisor of election offices should send a field team out into the county to visit these types of facilities and they should take representation from the Republican and Democratic party as poll observers to actually oversee but they don't do that,” he said.
Other election transparency concerns include voter list updates, readiness for the November election, misinformation, voting machines, and the cost of elections.
“We're focused on legislation and working with our elected officials to try and pass laws that will basically provide guidance on the proper way to handle an election,” Thomspon said.
Some 4.5 million of 21.5 million Floridians are 65 years old and older, according to Statista.
“The elderly are a large population here in Florida so they make up a huge portion of our voting block,” Thompson added. “People in nursing facilities don't make up a huge portion of our voting block but they are still a population out there that needs to be observed as they're voting, especially when they could have disabilities, to begin with.”