Canvassing the Vote

Canvassing the vote means to count and report election results. These are the main duties of the local Canvassing Board. The Canvassing board establishes criteria for accepting and rejecting questionable ballots.

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Each election year all Florida counties organize a Canvassing Board. In November 2015 Commissioner Bryan Nelson was selected to serve on the Orange County Canvassing Board by unanimous vote of the Orange County Commissioners and Mayor Jacobs.

The Board is made up of; a County Court Judge who will be the acting chair, the Supervisor of Elections, a Chair of the Board of County Commissioner, an Alternate County Court Judge and an Alternate County Commissioner.

The Board is responsible for: testing the voting systems, canvassing absentee votes, canvassing the ballots for early voting, canvassing write in votes, and canvassing returns from the polls and all provisional ballots.

The Board also tests electronic and electromechanical voting systems in advance of the elections. After testing the board must provide a written statement clarifying: the devices tested, the results of the testing, the number of the seal securing each device during the test and any problems including whether the device is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

The Board will canvass all absentee ballots. In order to do this the board will compare the number of ballots in their possession to the number of absentee ballots requested as shown in the Supervisor of Elections records. Then the board will compare the signatures on the voter’s certificate or absentee ballot affidavit with the signature on record with the Supervisor. Electors who have returned an absentee ballot with a missing signature have until 5 p.m. on the day before an election to complete and submit an affidavit with their signature at the Supervisor of Elections office.

After the elections the Board will conduct a post-election voting system audit to ensure that all electronic or electromechanical voting systems tabulated all votes accurately.

For further information visit the Florida Division of Elections or the Orange County Supervisor of Elections websites.