3/24/19
About 1 in 7 mail-in ballots submitted by college-age voters in Parkland were rejected or failed to arrive in time to be counted, according to an analysis. The findings are adding to questions about the reliability and fairness of the Florida electoral system, including its ballot signature requirement that became a flash point in the November recount between U.S. Sen Rick Scott (R) and the Democrat he ousted from office, Bill Nelson. A veteran researcher of Florida elections, Daniel A. Smith said that 15 percent of mail-in ballots submitted by Parkland residents between ages 18 and 21 were never counted in the midterm election, far exceeding the statewide average. Among all Floridians between 18 and 21, about 5.4 percent of mail-in ballots were rejected or uncounted, Smith said. The statewide average of rejected or uncounted mail-in ballots for all ages was 1.2 percent, Smith noted. “If you are voting in Florida, and you are young in Florida, you have a good chance of your ballot not being accepted,” Smith said. “Imagine going to the ATM, and every 10 times you go, instead of spitting out your money, they take it or they lose it.” A spokesman for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections said he could not comment on Smith’s findings “unless and until” the office reviewed his data and methodology.
In a report issued in September and written by Smith, the American Civil Liberties Union concluded that Florida’s vote-by-mail system disenfranchises younger voters as well as racial and ethnic minorities. During the 2016 election, the report stated, people under 30 made up just 9 percent of all vote-by-mail participants but accounted for about 31 percent of all rejected ballots. Black voters made up 9 percent of the vote-by-mail participants but accounted for 17 percent of rejected ballots, the report concluded.
