Election Integrity is developing and upholding policies and procedures that guarantee every eligible citizen of the United States the access, freedom, and right to equitable, accurate, and secure public elections.
Public Perception Can Influence Elections
When it comes to the integrity of Florida elections, perception is everything.
Florida must have election administration policies and procedures that will ensure a fair election and accurate vote counts, and importantly, voters need to have confidence in the integrity of the election results.
Why Election Integrity is Critical in Florida
Florida has a history of close elections. It is not uncommon for statewide elections to be decided by less than 2% of the vote.
The 2000 Election and Beyond
Florida’s reputation for close elections was enhanced by the small vote margin in the 2000 election. In addition, the lack of integrity in Florida’s elections was underscored when it took a month of legal power struggles to decide the winner of the 2000 Florida election.
With elections that close, voters must have confidence that every eligible vote is accurately counted. The public must perceive that the election is fair with no accusations of fraud or voter suppression. If voters lose confidence that their vote will be accurately counted, voters will be less inclined to participate in the electoral process.
What Florida Needs.
The Florida Department of State, the legislature and local election administration officials should adopt nonpartisan policies and procedures that give Floridians confidence that all eligible votes are counted accurately, and the results of every election are without question. Registering to vote should be an easy, painless process while still ensuring the integrity of the voting roll.
The act of voting should be accessible to all voters and in addition to election-day voting and early voting, voters should have the option to safely vote by mail, without fear that their ballot will be disqualified.