NEW YORK (AP) — An unsubstantiated claim that poll workers are invalidating ballots by labeling them is prompting election officials in the U.S. state of Florida to correct the result ahead of next week’s primary election.
Officials in Collier and Escambia counties, which include Naples and Pensacola, are assuring voters that the warning some have seen on social media and in text message conversations is inaccurate and that their ballot markings will not disqualify their votes.
Election officials say the claim, which has been circulating nationwide online since at least 2020, is an example of the kind of misinformation that often spreads among well-meaning voters but threatens to undermine confidence in the electoral process.
The false claim comes as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepares his supporters, without evidence, that election officials and partisan actors will manipulate the results. Polls also show that confidence in the election results is at an all-time low.
The false claim circulated both as copied and pasted text and as a screenshot of a text message shared on social media, purporting to come from a “survey manager” who recently completed training.
“I want you all to know one thing…if you show up at the polling place and they happen to write anything on your ballot before they give it to you to put in the voting machine…a letter, a check mark, a star, an R or a D or any other writing…please request a new ballot,” the misleading warning states. “Your ballot could be invalidated if it is written on.”
This literal claim spread across the Internet and has been debunked over the years in several states, including Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Depending on the jurisdiction, there may be legitimate reasons for a poll worker to mark a ballot.
A recent fact check by the North Carolina State Board of Elections found that poll workers in some counties in that state are writing precincts on ballots during early voting so that they can be properly sorted after the election.
Poll workers in the state also write a number on mail-in ballots or ballots cast in person in advance, the fact check said. That number can be used to remove the ballot from the count if the voter successfully files a challenge.
In Florida, poll workers are trained not to mark ballots, but even if they did, it would not invalidate the election, says Robert Bender, Escambia County clerk.
“We’ve had people write us paragraphs on their ballot,” Bender said. “Our scanners look for marks in certain areas, so if there’s a mark in a bubble, that’s how the vote is assigned to voters.”
He said when voters in his district get their ballot, they fill it out and take it directly to the counting machine. They can see if their vote is counted and learn why – a process he hopes will build trust.
Bender said he became aware of the false claim when his own election workers began asking questions about it. He said he might not have been as proactive in pushing back against the false claim if it had spread in May or June, but with the primary next week, “we want to reassure voters of the integrity of the system and make sure their vote is counted.”
Collier County, where Naples is located, also issued a policy warning voters about the falsehoods and urging them to contact their local election official for accurate voting information.
“Your local election office should be your trusted source of information,” Bender said. “They are here to serve voters. And they can inform you about what’s going on.”
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