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8/13/2019 Fl Voting Report
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8/13/2019 Fl Voting Report
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Floridas WorstElection OffendersA County-by-County Analysis of the Florida Election
Administration in the 2012 Election
By Anna Chu, Joshua Field, and Charles Posner December 2013
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1 Introduction and summary
7 Voter turnout
9 Voter registration
13 Voter list maintenance
15 Waiting time
19 Provisional ballots
23 Absentee ballots rejected
26 Conclusion
27 About the authors and acknowledgements
29 Methodology
33 Endnotes
Contents
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1 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Floridas Worst Election Offenders
Introduction and summary
Voing is our naions mos vial and widely used civic acion. I is a criical way
or ciizens o communicae wih leaders and indicae heir will or he direc-
ion o he counry. Bu while voing is o he umos imporance o he healh o
our democracy, sae voing laws and couny-based elecion adminisraion vary
grealy across he naion and can creae barriers o voing and dramaically impac
a ciizens voing experience.
Te voer regisraion process, or example, is no he same in every sae. Whileederal law ses sandards or voer regisraion,1some saes go above and beyond
he ederal sauory requiremens and make i easier or residens o regiser by
offering procedures such as online regisraion and same-day regisraion. Oher
saes, however, implemen regisraion resricions ha acually make i harder or
ciizens o ake his firs sep in he voing process.
Te voing experience and voing process also vary by couny. Because he
adminisraion o elecions is largely delegaed o officials in he more han 3,000
counies or wards in he Unied Saes, a ciizens voing experience can vary even
wihin a sae. From he ease o voer regisraion, o he mainenance o voer liss,
o he number o voing machines, many couny-based acors affec voers overall
experience and heir access o he ballo box.
Ciizens ofen ocus on voings end resul: casing a ballo in avor o a candidae
or an issue. Wha hey ofen ail o ideniy, however, are he many poins wihin
he voing process where sae and local elecion laws and elecion adminisra-
ors have a large impac on a voers overall experience. Tis repor isolaes several
differen acors ha illusrae he variaion in voer experience rom couny o
couny. By evaluaing he differences in voing saisics a a couny level, we canbeter undersand he voing adminisraion pracices ha work and encourage
sae and local officials o consider how hey can improve he voing experience
or heir ciizens.
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Voting in Florida
Florida was one o he saes ha received scruiny or he voing barriers ha is
elecorae aced hroughou he 2012 general elecion.2Leading up o he elecion
year, Florida received a grea deal o atenion or passing resricive voing laws
ha made i more difficul or ciizens o regiser o voe and cas heir ballos.In 2011, Gov. Rick Scot (R-FL) signed H.B. 1355, which made i significanly
more difficul or ciizens o voe by reducing early voing days, creaing addiional
hurdles or voers who moved counies beore he elecion, and heavily resricing
hird-pary voer regisraions.3Gov. Scot also embarked on a highly conroversial
and error-ridden purge o voers rom he saes voer regisraion lis.4
In addiion o acing resricive voing laws and a conroversial voer purge,
Florida voers had o deal wih long lines a he polls on Elecion Day. Voers in 35
precincs in Lee Couny were sill in line waiing o voe hree hours afer polling
locaions had officially closed.5Meanwhile, repors rom Miami-Dade Counyindicaed ha some voers in he couny had o wai in line or seven hours o voe
on Elecion Day.6One sudy ound ha Florida voers aced he longes lines o
voe in he naion.7
Many counies in Florida also experienced elecion adminisraion issues. In
Hillsborough Couny, or example, poor adminisraion appears o have errone-
ously orced some o he counys voers o voe provisionally;8afer all he voes
were abulaed in he couny, more han 2,100 provisional ballos were ossed
ou.9In Palm Beach Couny, a prining debacle delayed he compleion o coun-
ing absenee ballos unil our days afer he elecion.10
Because o Floridas hisory o elecion problems and he muliude o problems
ha voers encounered during he 2012 general elecion, we wen deeper o gain
a beter undersanding o wha happened in he sae during he elecion. We
examined concree daa ha refleced voers experiences in he voing sysem and
heir abiliy o paricipae in he democraic process. Since many elecion deci-
sions are delegaed o couny adminisraors, we waned o examine how voing
experiences varied rom couny o couny and ideniy he counies ha sood ou
or poor elecion adminisraion.
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Afer comparing Florida counies wih voing-age populaions greaer han one
quarer o he mean Florida couny ciizen voing-age populaion, we ound a
wide deviaion in he acors ha define he voing experience rom one couny o
anoher. Tis repor idenifies where some Florida counies are srong and ohers
are weak and raises he quesion o why i is harder or a voer in Columbia Couny
o paricipae in he democraic process han i is or a voer in S. Johns Couny.
Factors examined in the report
Tis repor examines nine acors ha reflec voers voing experiences and heir
abiliy o paricipae in he democraic process. We compared he perormance o
he mos populous Florida counies by calculaing he mean level o perormance
or each o he nine acors below and deermining how ar rom he mean each
couny scored.11Te resul is an objecive ranking o Floridas wors-offending
counies or elecion adminisraion.
Te acors examined in his repor are:
Voer urnou Overall voer regisraion rae Voer regisraion rae or Arican Americans Voer regisraion rae or Hispanics Rae o regisered voers removed rom voing liss Waiing ime Provisional ballos cas Provisional ballos rejeced Absenee ballos rejeced
In addiion o he overall wors-offender rankings, we idenified he wors-per-
orming counies wihin each acor o explore why cerain counies may have
perormed beter han ohers. Te resul is an in-deph analysis o he voing prob-
lems ha plague Florida counies and make i harder or ciizens o exercise heir
righ o paricipae in our democracy.
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Overall rankings
While all Florida counies had o conend in 2012 wih resricive elecion laws
passed a he sae level, six o he counies ha we evaluaed sood ou or ailing
o ensure ha residens could reely and effecively cas voes: Columbia, Punam,
Bay, Alachua, Hillsborough, and Duval. Nearly 2 million voing-age ciizens live inhese six wors counies.
Columbia Couny in norhern Florida was he wors-perorming couny overall
and requenly ranked among he saes wors counies on a variey o acors. O
he Florida counies examined, Columbia had he wors voer urnou o is ciizen
voing-age populaion, 53.5 percen. Tis corresponds o he ac ha Columbia
also had he lowes percenage o regisered voers as a raio o is voing-age popu-
laion, he second-lowes percenage o eligible Arican American voer regisra-
ion, and he hird-lowes percenage o eligible Hispanic voer regisraion. I also
had one o he highes percenages o absenee ballos rejecednearly wo imesmore han he average Florida couny.
Punam Couny had he second-lowes percenage o overall voer regisraion,
he hird-lowes level o voer urnou, and was he hird-mos acive couny in
removing voers rom voer rolls. Bay Couny also ared poorly on numerous ac-
ors, bu i was he wors offender wih regard o he percenage o absenee ballos
i rejeced, rejecing more han wo imes he sae average o absenee ballos.
Alachua Couny removed a greaer percenage o is regisered voers han any
oher couny oher han Hillsboroughnearly wo imes he sae averageand
issued he hird-highes percenage o provisional ballos in Florida.
Hillsborough Couny had one o he wors average waiing imes in he sae.
According o a repor rom Advancemen Projec, polls in Hillsborough had o
say open an average o one hour pas closing ime.12Hillsborough also had he
second-highes percenage o provisional ballos cas in Floridamore han wice
he sae average.13Tis is concerning, considering ha nearly 42 percen o he
provisional ballos cas in he counymore han 2,100 voeswere rejeced and
no couned.14
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Duval Couny had he highes percenage o provisional ballos
cas in he sae.15Tis is also roubling because no all provisional
ballos are acually couned. In ac, Duval rejeced more han 34
percenor more han 2,300o he provisional ballos cas in
he couny.16Alhough elecion officials poin o he resricive
H.B. 1355 as he reason why Duval Couny had so many provi-sional ballos, every couny in he sae had o conend wih he
same law.17Te rae o provisional ballos used in Duval, however,
is almos our imes higher han he sae average.
Te six counies highlighed above sand ou or heir poor
elecion adminisraion because hey perormed dramaically
worse han oher Florida counies. According o our analy-
siswhich calculaes each counys sandard deviaion rom
he sae mean or each o he nine acorshe sixh-wors
couny, Hillsborough, perormed 60 percen worse han hesevenh-wors couny, Highlands. Bu while i is worh noing
hese exreme cases, all o he botom-ranking counies deserve
scruiny or making i harder or people o paricipae in he
democraic process.
o beter undersand wha makes voing differen rom one
couny o anoher, compare highlighs rom hree o he acors
we analyzed demonsraing how he good-, he bad-, and he
average-perorming counies ared in Figure 1.
Te able below ranks he Florida counies ha we analyzed
rom he overall wors o he overall bes-perorming counies in
elecion adminisraion, according o he nine examined voing
acors. Columbia Couny ranked as he overall wors offender,
Marion Couny esablished he mean elecion adminisraion
perormance, and S. Johns Couny perormed he bes.
FIGURE 1
Comparing Florida election
administration in 2012: The good,
the bad, and the average
Voter turnout rate
Columbia Escambia St. John
80%
60%
40%
20%
0
* All figures are calculated as a percentage of citizen voting-age
population, or CVAP, except for absentee ballots rejected, which is
calculated as the percentage of all absentee ballots issued.
Hispanic registration rate
Bay Marion Clay
80%
60%
40%
20%
0
Absentee ballot rejection rate
Alachua Miami-Dade Santa Ro
2.0%
1.5%
1.0%
0.5%
0
53.5%
66.8%
83.6%
52.4%
73.2% 78.3%
1.9%
0.9%0.3%
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TABLE 1
Floridas worst election offenders: Overall
rankings based on nine factors
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
Rank County
1 Columbia (worst)
2 Putnam
3 Bay
4 Alachua
5 Duval
6 Hillsborough
7 Highlands
8 Volusia
9 Lee
10 Sumter
11 Monroe
12 Orange
13 Escambia
14 Polk
15 Collier
16 Okaloosa
17 Palm Beach
18 Marion (average)
19 Miami-Dade
20 Martin
Rank County
21 St. Lucie
22 Charlotte
23 Osceola
24 Pinellas
25 Leon
26 Indian River
27 Brevard
28 Seminole
29 Nassau
30 Manatee
31 Hernando
32 Citrus
33 Lake
34 Sarasota
35 Broward
36 Pasco
37 Flagler
38 Santa Rosa
39 Clay
40 St. Johns (best)
FIGURE 2
Mapping Floridas Election Administration
performance: The good, the bad, and
the average
Source: Center for American Progress analysis based on data from the U.S. ElectionAssistance Commission, U.S. Census Bureau, and Advancement Project. See the methodol-
ogy for more details.
Overall rankings
Worst Best
Source: Center for American Progress analysis based on data from the U.S. ElectionAssistance Commission, U.S. Census Bureau, and Advancement Project. See methodolofor more details
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Voter turnout
Voer urnou is an imporan measure o he healh o our democracy and he
abiliy and desire o ciizens o paricipae in he democraic process. Te Unied
Saes has a hisory o low voer urnou raes. Only abou 59 percen o he ciizen
voing-age populaion voed in 2012,18ranking i one o he wors counries when
compared o similar democracies.19Te reasons or he low voer urnou vary bu
ofen have o do wih various barriers, such as voer regisraion resricions, ha
make i more difficul o voe.20
In comparison o he naional voer urnou rae, Floridas overall voer urnou
rae o 63.2 percen is above average.21A closer examinaion shows, however, ha
voer urnou varied grealy among he saes counies. While counies such as
S. Johns saw more han 80 percen o he ciizen voing-age populaion voe in
he 2012 general elecion, Columbia, Highlands, Polk, and Punam counies had
urnou raes o less han 60 percen. Te low voer urnou raes in hese counies
raise quesions abou wheher hose residens have proper access o he demo-
craic process.
Te able below ranks Florida counies according o heir voer urnou raes.
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County Voter turnout rate Rank
Alachua 64.7% 14
Bay 64.3% 12
Brevard 69.1% 26
Broward 68.6% 25
Charlotte 65.0% 15
Citrus 64.1% 11
Clay 72.1% 37
Collier 71.3% 36
Columbia 53.5% 1
Duval 66.7% 21
Escambia 66.8% 22
Flagler 71.0% 33
Hernando 60.4% 5
Highlands 57.3% 2
Hillsborough 65.9% 18
Indian River 69.5% 27
Lake 68.1% 24
Lee 60.6% 6
Leon 70.9% 32
Manatee 66.4% 20
Marion 63.9% 10
County Voter turnout rate Rank
Martin 71.2% 35
Miami-Dade 66.0% 19
Monroe 71.0% 34
Nassau 73.7% 38
Okaloosa 70.6% 31
Orange 62.7% 9
Osceola 65.1% 16
Palm Beach 67.7% 23
Pasco 62.1% 8
Pinellas 65.6% 17
Polk 59.4% 4
Putnam 57.6% 3
Santa Rosa 69.7% 28
Sarasota 69.8% 29
Seminole 69.8% 30
St. Johns 83.6% 40
St. Lucie 64.4% 13
Sumter 77.0% 39
Volusia 61.1% 7
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and U. S. Election AssistanceCommission. See the methodology and endnotes formore details.
TABLE 2
Voter turnout: Rate of total votes cast among citizen voting-age population
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
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Voter registration
Anoher measure o how easily ciizens can access he democraic process is voer
regisraion. In Florida, as in virually every sae, regisraion is he firs sep cii-
zens mus ake o exercise heir righ o voe.
Regisering o voe in Florida is no easy ea, however, as hose regisering o voe
in he sae mus go hrough a echnologically daed sysem. Prospecive voers
mus fill ou a paper-based orm and eiher mail or hand deliver he compleed
orm o an appropriae office. I a regisered voer moves, changes poliical paries,or changes his or her name, he or she mus submi a replacemen paper-based
applicaion.22Floridians mus also be regisered or a leas 29 days beore hey can
voe in an elecion.
In addiion o his daed and inefficien regisraion sysem, Florida implemened
harsh laws ha impeded Floridians abiliy o voe. For much o 2012, H.B. 1355
imposed egregious resricions upon hird-pary voer regisraion effors. I
imposed sric sandards ha made i harder or any hird pary voer regisraion
organizaionsuch as he nonparisan League o Women Voers, he NAACP,
and he Boy Scouso underake broad-based voer regisraion effors.23
Because o he resricive law, some nonparisan organizaions ceased heir voer
regisraion drives in Florida while hey challenged he law in cour.24I was no
unil he beginning o las summer ha a cour emporarily blocked enorcemen
o he law, and in Augus 2012, he sae finally setled he lawsui and agreed o
no enorce communiy voer regisraion resricions.25Tis lef hird-pary orga-
nizaions mere monhs o regiser voers beore he general elecion.26
Alhough many differen acors affec voer regisraion raes, he barriers o
voing ha Florida se up likely suned he saes regisraion raes. Indeed, voerregisraion raes in Florida decreased rom 2010 o 2012. In 2010, more han 12.5
million people were regisered o voe in Floridanearly 96 percen o he ciizen
voing-age populaion.27In 2012, however, ha number ell 8 percenage poins o
88 percen, or 11.9 million people.28
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County
Overall registration
rate, 2012 Rank, overall
African Ameri-
can registration
rate, 2012
Rank, African
American
Hispanic
registration
rate, 2012 Ra nk , H is pan ic
Alachua 87.4% 8 80.5% 8 72.1% 22
Bay 89.3% 14 82.3% 10 52.4% 5
Brevard 91.2% 24 90.1% 27 72.0% 21
Broward 102.6% 38 104.2% 40 89.9% 38
Charlotte 87.6% 10 80.0% 7 55.4% 7
Citrus 84.8% 5 84.3% 15 53.6% 6
Clay 98.4% 37 102.3% 39 78.3% 34
Collier 85.6% 6 83.0% 13 66.2% 12
Columbia 69.6% 1 57.9% 2 48.3% 3
Duval 89.6% 16 91.3% 29 66.3% 13
Escambia 87.9% 12 86.1% 21 41.7% 2
Flagler 97.2% 36 98.6% 38 74.3% 28
Hernando 92.1% 27 89.0% 24 73.6% 26
Highlands 82.4% 3 85.6% 19 74.4% 29
Hillsborough 89.7% 17 92.4% 31 70.4% 20
Indian River 90.1% 19 78.1% 5 68.7% 17
Lake 90.1% 20 92.3% 30 75.4% 30
Lee 87.9% 11 80.6% 9 73.4% 25
Leon 90.4% 21 88.5% 23 66.6% 15
Manatee 90.0% 18 85.0% 18 60.3% 9
Marion 87.6% 9 83.0% 12 73.2% 24
Martin 91.0% 22 74.9% 4 57.8% 8
Miami-Dade 97.1% 35 95.9% 33 90.0% 39
Monroe 92.7% 28 67.8% 3 61.3% 10
Nassau 92.9% 29 84.8% 17 51.9% 4
Okaloosa 95.3% 32 86.6% 22 66.4% 14
Orange 91.6% 25 89.8% 26 87.9% 37
Osceola 96.7% 33 96.6% 36 100.9% 40
Palm Beach 97.0% 34 96.4% 35 79.4% 35
Pasco 89.4% 15 95.8% 32 75.8% 31
TABLE 3
Voter turnout: Rate of total votes cast among citizen voting-age population
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
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County
Overall registration
rate, 2012 Rank, overall
African Ameri-
can registration
rate, 2012
Rank, African
American
Hispanic
registration
rat e, 2012 R ank , Hispa nic
Pinellas 88.6% 13 85.9% 20 66.2% 11
Polk 83.3% 4 82.8% 11 77.3% 32
Putnam 79.2% 2 78.7% 6 69.9% 18
Santa Rosa 105.4% 39 84.6% 16 67.1% 16
Sarasota 92.9% 30 89.7% 25 70.4% 19
Seminole 91.6% 26 90.9% 28 81.6% 36
St. Johns 110.1% 40 97.0% 37 73.9% 27
St. Lucie 91.1% 23 96.0% 34 77.9% 33
Sumter 93.5% 31 42.4% 1 39.4% 1
Volusia 86.2% 7 83.2% 14 72.7% 23
Note: Due to the f act that Census figures for citizen voting-age population are estimates with a margin of error and that the most up-to-date citizen voting-age population, or
CVAP, estimates are from 2011, not 2012, some registration rates appear as more than 100 percent. See the methodology section for more details.
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Voter list maintenance
o voe in Florida, a ciizen mus be lised on a saes voer regisraion liss, also
called voer rolls. Counies regularly conduc mainenance o he voing liss,
remov[ing] duplicae names and people who have moved, died, or are oherwise
ineligible.38
In Florida, however, Gov. Scot atemped o conduc a highly conroversial and
error-ridden saewide purge o voers beore he 2012 general elecion ha wen
beyond radiional couny-based lis mainenance.
Gov. Scots purge process was deeply flawed. Te saes elecions office sen couny
officials a lis o suspeced ineligible voers ha conained ambiguous daa and
named numerous individuals whose eligibiliy could no be deermined one way
or anoheror who were indeed ciizens.39 Gov. Scots acion is reflecive o a
2008 Brennan Cener or Jusice sudy finding ha every purge lis i reviewed was
flawed.40 In some insances, purges were done based on error-ridden liss; in ohers,
local elecion officials perormed voer purges wihou any oversigh or noice.41
Many couny elecions supervisors, in ac, declined o move orward wih Gov.
Scots saewide purge because hey did no rus he accuracy o he lis.42Te U.S.
Deparmen o Jusice argued ha Gov. Scots purge violaed he Voing Righs Ac
and he Naional Voer Regisraion Ac and ordered Florida o sop he purge, while
several groups also sued he sae, arguing ha he voer purge was discriminaory
because i singled ou mosly immigrans.43 Te sae and he groups evenually
reached an agreemen wherein Florida agreed o inorm he 2,625 people on he lis
who are eligible o voe ha heir voing righs had been ully resored.44
Alhough he sae sopped he conroversial purge process, counies sill conduced
regular mainenance o he voing liss. While his process is legal and necessaryin some scenarios, some Florida counies sood ou or he high rae o voers hey
removed rom he voing liss. Hillsborough Couny had he highes rae o vo-
ers removed rom is voing liss compared o regisered voers o he counies ha
we evaluaed; i removed voers off is rolls more han wice as ofen as he aver-
age couny. Alachua, Punam, and Monroe counies also had comparaively high
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TABLE 4
Voter list maintenance: Rate of voters removed among registered voters
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
County
Number
of voters
removed, 2012
Voter
removal
rate, 2012 Rank
Alachua 982 0.60% 2
Bay 496 0.44% 7
Brevard 943 0.25% 29
Broward 4,077 0.36% 12
Charlotte 170 0.15% 40
Citrus 262 0.27% 27
Clay 424 0.32% 22
Collier 630 0.35% 15
Columbia 101 0.28% 25
Duval 2,730 0.49% 5
Escambia 838 0.42% 9
Flagler 247 0.35% 13
Hernando 257 0.21% 32
Highlands 207 0.33% 18
Hillsborough 4,938 0.66% 1
Indian River 295 0.32% 24
Lake 540 0.27% 26
Lee 721 0.19% 36
Leon 662 0.35% 16
Manatee 328 0.16% 39Marion 765 0.34% 17
County
Number
of voters
removed, 2012
Voter
removal
rate, 2012 Rank
Martin 246 0.24% 30
Miami-Dade 5,844 0.44% 6
Monroe 267 0.52% 4
Nassau 171 0.33% 19
Okaloosa 290 0.23% 31
Orange 2,249 0.33% 21
Osceola 619 0.38% 11
Palm Beach 2,869 0.33% 20
Pasco 609 0.20% 34
Pinellas 1,995 0.32% 23
Polk 922 0.26% 28
Putnam 237 0.54% 3
Santa Rosa 243 0.21% 33
Sarasota 517 0.19% 35
Seminole 499 0.18% 37
St. Johns 247 0.16% 38
St. Lucie 746 0.42% 8
Sumter 281 0.38% 10
Volusia 1,177 0.35% 14
Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission. See the methodology
and endnotes for more details.
removal raes. Removing voers off he voer rolls should no be aken lighly, and
hese large discrepancies raise quesions as o why some counies removed voers a
a rae so much higher han he sae average.
Te able below ranks Florida counies based on he percenage o voers removed
rom voer rolls.
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Waiting time
Anoher barrier o voing is long waiing imes a he polls. On average, Florida
voers aced he longes waiing imes in he counry in 2012.45According o a
Massachusets Insiue o echnology, or MI, sudy, voers in Florida had o wai
an average o 45 minues.46
Long lines a he polls are derimenal o he voing process; hey discourage
voers rom casing ballos, which impacs elecion resuls. Sudies sugges
ha his occurred in Florida. According o a repor by Associae ProessorTeodore Allen o Ohio Sae Universiy, long lines in Florida discouraged a
leas 201,000 Florida voers rom casing ballos on Elecion Day in 2012.47
Oher findings revealed ha 49,000 people in Cenral Florida alone were dis-
couraged rom voing on Elecion Day because o long lines.48O hose 49,000
discouraged voers, an esimaed 30,000 would have voed or Presiden Barack
Obama, and only abou 19,000 would have voed or Republican presiden-
ial candidae Mit Romney,49increasing he presidens margin o vicory by
11,000 voes in Florida.50
Alhough Florida voers aced he longes waiing imes in he naion, many
voers in counies across he sae aced ar longer lines han he sae average.
According o an Advancemen Projec repor, Lee, S. Lucie, Orange, Palm
Beach, Volusia, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, and Brevard counies all had aver-
age wai imes o longer han an hour.51According o he repor, on average,
precincs in Lee closed 115 minues afer he polls officially closed, meaning
voers waied in line well afer he pol ling locaion was supposed o close.52
News oules confirmed ha voers were sill waiing in line o voe a 10:00
p.m. a 35 precincs in Lee Couny.53Meanwhile, repors rom Miami-Dade
Couny indicaed ha some voers in he couny had o wai seven hours inline o voe on Elecion Day.54
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A number o reasons have been offered or why he lines in Florida were so long.
Tere is some indicaion ha he shorened early voing schedule may have
resuled in longer lines a he polls.55Some news repors also sugges ha long bal-
los played a role. Te ballo in Miami-Dade, or example, was 10 o 12 pages long.
Te Miami Heraldrepored:
In some cases, exasperaed voers ook he ballos and filled hem ou before
geting o he boohsvoing a ables or on heir laps. Poll worker Dave Palak,
57, a reired Coas Guard officer, said a booh botleneck salled voing a he
Normandy Shores Golf Club, so voers sared reading and compleing heir bal-
los while sanding in line.56
In addiion o shorened early voing days and lenghy ballos, here is evidence
ha some couny elecion officials were no adequaely prepared o handle he
high voer urnou, did no allocae resources properly, or may simply be incompe-
en a heir jobs.
Alhough Te Miami Heraldrepored ha elecion officials in Miami-Dade Couny
believed hey had enough ballo scanners, voing boohs, and poll workers o deal
wih he crowds,57a lack o resources seemed o pose a problem in he couny. A
Cenennial Middle School in Culer Bay, 1,786 voers cas ballos a a sie wih jus
five scanner machinesone o he highes voer-o-machine raios in he couny,
records show.58Meanwhile, a he Counry Walk Park Recreaion Cener, 1,892
voers flooded a sie wih 32 boohs and seven ballo scanners, causing wais as
long as seven hours.59
Poor planning and incompeen managemen appeared o plague Lee Couny,
where some voers had o wai in line or five hours o voe.60Couny Elecion
Supervisor Sharon Harringon claimed ha no one could have prepared or he
issues ha led o long lines on Elecion Day, blaming long ballos and a shorage
o ballo scanners or some o he problems.61Te couny elecion office, however,
had acually reurned more han $1 million o he couny in 2010 and 2011
money ha he office could have used o buy exra scanners. Harringon also
ailed o use 50 exra ballo scanners ha he couny had on Elecion Day.62Lasly,
Harringon could have sough permission rom he sae or ways o consolidaehe ballo, bu she did no even know here was an opion o do so.63
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In conras o Miami-Dade Couny elecion officials and Lee Couny Elecion
Supervisor Harringon, he elecion officials in Collier Couny planned ahead or
he elecion.64In anicipaion o long ballos, he couny purchased exra ballo
scanners o conend wih he long ballos, dispaching more ballo scanners in
2012 han i did in any oher elecion.65Collier Couny even sough permission
rom he sae o consolidae is ballo.66
Tus, while voers in Lee had o ace, onaverage, a 115-minue wai a he polls, voers in Collier aced, on average, only an
8-minue wai a he polls.67
Alhough muliple acors affec waiing imes a he polls, he sories o Lee
Couny and Collier Couny illusrae how good and bad elecion adminisraion
can impac he voing process and voing experience.
Te able below shows he average waiing imes a he polls on Elecion Day in
Florida or he counies or which daa were colleced.
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TABLE 5
Waiting times: Average number of minutes after polls closed that last vote was cast
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
County
Average number of
minutes after polls
closed, 2012 Rank
Alachua 34 17
Bay - -
Brevard 63 8
Broward 25 19
Charlotte 0 26
Citrus 0 26
Clay 13 23
Collier 8 25
Columbia - -
Duval 35 15
Escambia 11 24
Flagler - -
Hernando - -
Highlands - -
Hillsborough 72 7
Indian River 18 22
Lake 20 21
Lee 115 1
Leon 41 11
Manatee 53 9
Marion 27 18
County
Average number of
minutes after polls
closed, 2012 Rank
Martin 0 26
Miami-Dade 73 6
Monroe - -
Nassau 0 26
Okaloosa - -
Orange 86 3
Osceola 37 14
Palm Beach 84 4
Pasco 41 11
Pinellas 40 13
Polk 35 15
Putnam - -
Santa Rosa - -
Sarasota - -
Seminole 25 19
St. Johns 0 26
St. Lucie 96 2
Sumter 46 10
Volusia 75 5
Note: Among counties in which waiting-time data were not available, this factor wasomitted from the overall rankings. See the methodology section for more details.Source: Advancement Project. See the methodology and endnotes for more details.
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Provisional ballots
Provisional ballos are anoher measure o how voers paricipae on Elecion
Day. Te opion o cas a provisional ballo came afer he 2000 elecion, when
Congress passed he Help America Voe Ac, or HAVA, o serve as a ail-sae
mechanism o ensure ha voers who show up a he polls may cas a provisional
ballo i hey claim o be eligible and regisered o voe.68I voers show up o he
polls bu heir names are no on he voer rolls, or insance, hey can sill cas a
provisional ballo.69Provisional ballos are hen couned afer elecion officials
veriy ha he voer is regisered and eligible o voe.70
Alhough he use o provisional ballos is beter han denying a voer he abiliy
o cas any ballo, i has mixed resuls in pracice. Someimes, poll workers ail o
offer any provisional ballos o voers, and oher imes, counies apply varying
mehods or couning provisional ballos.71Counies ha issue and/or rejec more
provisional ballos han he sae average should be scruinized o deermine why
heir elecion adminisraion yielded such anomalies.
able 6 shows he rae o he use o provisional ballos across Florida, as well as
he raes a which provisional ballos were rejeced. Te daa illusrae abnor-
mally high use o provisional ballos in several counies, especially in Duval and
Hillsborough counies, and a high rejecion rae o provisional ballos in Palm
Beach and Miami-Dade counies.
High use of provisional ballots
Duval Couny sands ou or having an exremely high rae o issuing provisional
ballosnearly our imes greaer han he sae average. Tis is especially rou-bling because nearly 35 percen o provisional ballosmore han 2,300 voes
were no couned in Duval.72Duval Couny Supervisor o Elecions Jerry Holland
and oher couny elecion officials blamed he increase in he use o provisional
ballos on a change in he law ha requires voers who moved o a new couny
and did no change heir address beore voing o use a provisional ballo.73
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Indeed, he use o provisional ballos in Duval Couny isel did increase by 1,500
rom 2008 o 2012.74Bu his acor does no ully explain why Duval voers had o
cas provisional ballos nearly our imes more ofen han he average sae voer.
Hillsborough Couny also perormed poorly on his measure, wih he second-
highes rae o using provisional ballos. Hillsborough used provisional bal-los almos wo and a hal imes more ofen han he sae average and rejeced
provisional ballos a a higher rae han Duval. Hillsborough hrew ou nearly 42
percen o he provisional ballos casmore han 2,100 voes.75
Repors rom nonparisan elecion-proecion groups indicae ha poor elecion
adminisraion may accoun or some o he exensive use o provisional ballos in
Hillsborough Couny. Te Lawyers Commitee or Civil Righs, which conduced
an exensive elecion-proecion effor in Hillsborough, received repors o
numerous poll workers incorrecly handing ou provisional ballos o voers look-
ing o updae heir addresses a heir new polling place.76Tese poll workers wereno ollowing he correc procedure. Insead, or anyone who has moved wihin
he couny, hey should have been allowed o updae he address and voe on a
sandard ballo.77
Misdirecion rom poll workers also led o a large number o issued provisional
ballos in Hillsborough Couny. Florida requires voers in he wrong precinc o
voe provisionally; repors indicaed ha a leas several-dozen morning voers
were uninenionally direced o he wrong precinc and were required o voe
provisionally raher han cas a normal ballo.78
High rejection rate for provisional ballots
Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counies had he highes rejecion raes or provi-
sional ballos in Florida in 2012.
Voers in Palm Beach Couny cas 2,056 provisional ballos on Elecion Day,79bu
he couny rejeced 1,477 o hose ballosmore han 70 percen o all provi-
sional ballos cas in he couny and wice he sae average.80
Tis is especiallyroubling news or many voers in Palm Beach Couny, considering ha voers
here aced some o he longes lines in he sae o cas heir voes.
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County
Percent of 2012
Election Day votes
cast provisionally
Rank, provisional
ballots cast
Rejection rate
of 2012 provisional
ballots cast
Rank, provisional
ballots rejected
Alachua 2.18% 3 43.9% 13
Bay 1.57% 6 39.1% 16
Brevard 0.64% 31 53.2% 8
Broward 0.87% 22 61.4% 4
Charlotte 0.28% 38 49.3% 9
Citrus 0.95% 21 6.3% 40
Clay 1.17% 16 22.7% 36
Collier 1.18% 15 44.7% 12
Columbia 0.53% 36 38.8% 17
Duval 4.32% 1 34.6% 25
Escambia 0.76% 26 33.1% 26
Flagler 1.04% 19 28.2% 30
Hernando 0.60% 32 24.6% 34
Highlands 1.80% 5 36.2% 22
Hillsborough 2.47% 2 41.6% 14
Indian River 1.38% 11 22.5% 37
Lake 0.43% 37 39.8% 15
Lee 1.07% 17 38.2% 19
Leon 1.56% 7 38.0% 20
TABLE 6
Provisional ballots: Rates of provisional ballots cast and rejected
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade Couny, voers cas 2,828 provisional ballos only
o have he couny oss ou nearly 65 percen o hem.81In oal, he couny
rejeced 1,828 o he provisional ballos cas.82Similar o Palm Beach Couny,
his is especially roubling because voers in Miami-Dade also aced some o he
longes lines in he sae.
While here are valid reasons o rejec provisional ballos, he high raes a
which Palm Beach and Miami-Dade rejeced provisional ballos raise quesions
as o why hose counies ound provisional ballos o be invalid much more
requenly han oher counies.
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County
Percent of 2012
Election Day votes
cast provisionally
Rank, provisional
ballots cast
Rejection rate
of 2012 provisional
ballots cast
Rank, provisional
ballots rejected
Manatee 0.59% 33 32.5% 28
Marion 0.17% 40 56.5% 7
Martin 1.03% 20 59.8% 5
Miami-Dade 0.70% 30 64.6% 2
Monroe 0.70% 29 16.7% 38
Nassau 1.42% 10 27.7% 31
Okaloosa 0.70% 28 59.2% 6
Orange 1.51% 8 46.4% 10
Osceola 1.25% 12 62.4% 3
Palm Beach 0.58% 35 71.8% 1
Pasco 0.76% 25 8.5% 39
Pinellas 0.86% 23 34.7% 24
Polk 1.20% 14 44.8% 11
Putnam 1.07% 18 31.6% 29
Santa Rosa 0.74% 27 33.0% 27
Sarasota 1.21% 13 35.2% 23
Seminole 1.90% 4 22.8% 35
St. Johns 0.85% 24 37.5% 21
St. Lucie 1.43% 9 25.6% 33
Sumter 0.23% 39 26.3% 32
Volusia 0.59% 34 38.7% 18
Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission data. See the methodology and endnotes for more details.
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Absentee ballots rejected
As more and more voers cas absenee ballos insead o ballos a he polls,
absenee ballos are an imporan measure o how voers are able o paricipae in
he democraic process. Alhough much o he ocus on Elecion Day may be on
long lines a he polls, nearly 40 percen o Florida voers cas absenee ballos on
Elecion Day in 2012 insead o heading o he polls.83
Florida, however, has harsh sandards or considering absenee ballos. Under
Florida law, absenee ballos mus be individually canvassed by a board o ensureha every signaure maches a voers signaure on file o mee sae law require-
mens.84H.B. 1355 also requires ha absenee ballos be considered invalid i he
voers signaure on he ballo does no mach he signaure on record,85and cours
are limied rom considering any evidence oher han he signaure in deermining
he validiy o an absenee ballo.86As he Herald-ribunenoes, his will affec vo-
ers who suffer rom arhriis, srokes and oher ailmens ha affec heir handwriing.
Tose who ail o updae heir signaures in ime would be ou o luck. 87
able 7 ranks Florida counies by he rae o absenee ballos rejeced in 2012.
Bay Couny leads he field in rejecing absenee ballos, as i rejeced absenee
ballos more han wice as ofen as he sae average.88Alhough he oal number
o absenee ballos rejeced is small, he deviaion rom he sae average raises
quesions abou why examiners in Bay Couny ound problems wih he absen-
ee ballos cas ar more requenly han oher counies examiners did. Similarly,
Okaloosa, Seminole, and Columbia counies all rejeced absenee ballos a a rae
more han wice he sae average.
Processing absentee ballots
In addiion o he harsh review sandards, Florida law makes he processing o
absenee ballos difficul. Elecion supervisors may begin processing ballos only
15 days prior o Elecion Day;89in some cases, counies will have already received
ens o housands o absenee ballos by his dae.
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Some elecion supervisors experienced delays wih he mailing and delivery o
absenee ballos and were no prepared or he large number o voers seeking o
cas in-person absenee ballos a he supervisors office insead o casing a regu-
lar ballo a an early voing or Elecion Day locaion.90Tis creaed a heavy load or
elecion supervisors o handle.
Alhough we could no find a daa source quaniying he delays in processing
absenee ballos in Florida, Palm Beach Couny meris atenion or he poor
adminisraion o is absenee ballos during he 2012 elecion. During he elec-
ion, he counys ballo priner sen ou around 60,000 absenee ballos wih a
ypo ha could no be read by he counys abulaion machines.91Because o his
misake, couny workers had o copy abou 35,000 o he voes by hand ono new
ballos.92Afer he couny realized he problem, he couny did no send ou he
remaining absenee ballos or inorm he voers who were waiing or hem abou
he problem.93According o TePalm Beach Pos, A leas 77 voers in Palm Beach
Couny who requesed absenee ballos had o wai weeks or hem or sill havenreceived hem.94
Whas more, he problems in Palm Beach Couny did no sop on Elecion Day,
insead coninuing or days afer he elecion. Alhough he elecion had already
been called or Presiden Obama, Palm Beach Couny was sill soring hrough
is debacle wih absenee ballos and did no finish couning voes unil our days
afer he elecion.95
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TABLE 7
Absentee ballots: Rate of absentee ballots rejected
Rankings: 1 = worst-performing county
County
Absentee ballot
rejection rate, 2012 Rank
Alachua 1.93% 5
Bay 2.19% 1
Brevard 0.21% 38
Broward 1.30% 12
Charlotte 1.01% 18
Citrus 0.24% 36
Clay 0.37% 33
Collier 1.51% 8
Columbia 1.98% 4
Duval 1.29% 13
Escambia 0.69% 26
Flagler 0.60% 29
Hernando 0.96% 19
Highlands 0.73% 25
Hillsborough 0.93% 21
Indian River 0.77% 22
Lake 1.12% 14
Lee 1.02% 17
Leon 0.11% 39
Manatee 0.22% 37
Marion 0.58% 30
County
Absentee ballot
rejection rate, 2012 Rank
Martin 0.46% 31
Miami-Dade 0.94% 20
Monroe 1.46% 9
Nassau 0.76% 23
Okaloosa 2.09% 2
Orange 1.05% 16
Osceola 1.64% 6
Palm Beach 1.10% 15
Pasco 0.67% 27
Pinellas 0.26% 35
Polk 0.45% 32
Putnam 1.43% 11
Santa Rosa 0.29% 34
Sarasota 0.75% 24
Seminole 2.05% 3
St. Johns 1.52% 7
St. Lucie 0.01% 40
Sumter 0.60% 28
Volusia 1.44% 10
Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission data. See the methodology and
endnotes for more details.
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Conclusion
Voing is one o he mos basic, undamenal righs we have in our democracy. I
gives us our democraic voice, provides legiimacy o our leaders, and is a righ
ha many around he world figh o have. As shown in his repor, however, he
abiliy o ciizens o access he polls and exercise heir righ o voe varies widely
across Florida. While residens o S. Johns Couny appear o enjoy relaively good
access o voing, residens in Columbia Couny ace muliple barriers. In addi-
ion o resricive sae laws ha make i harder or people o voe, poor elecion
adminisraion is also disenranchising he people o Florida.
Te people o Florida deserve beter. By undersanding wha makes one counys
elecion adminisraion weaker han anohers, we can ideniy he pracices and
procedures o avoid and make suggesions abou how o improve he voing expe-
rience or all ciizens. Tis repor should be used as a ool o provide insigh ino
he acors ha disinguish one counys elecion adminisraion rom anohers
and encourage local elecion officials o ake responsibiliy or shorcomings and
find soluions o help ensure ha our mos basic democraic acion is reely aken.
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About the authors
Anna Chuis he Policy Direcor or he TinkProgress War Room a American
Progress. She brings experience serving as he policy direcor or he Democraic
Senaorial Campaign Commitee during he successul 2012 cycle ha saw
Democras adding wo seas o heir majoriy in he Senae. As policy direcor, sheoversaw and managed all policy issues or he commitee and Democraic Senae
candidaes. Prior o working a he Democraic Senaorial Campaign Commitee,
she served as he policy advisor or he House Democraic Caucus. She previ-
ously served as a ederal law clerk and worked as an associae a Paul Hasings.
Chu graduaed rom he Universiy o Caliornia, Berkeley, and has a J.D. rom he
Universiy o Souhern Caliornia.
Joshua Fieldserves as he Depuy Direcor o Legal Progress, he legal policy
program a American Progress. Field is a veeran o boh he 2008 and 2012 Obama
or America campaigns and joined American Progress afer ulfilling several di-eren roles during he 2012 campaign cycle, including senior advisor a he 2013
Presidenial Inaugural Commitee, Organizing or America Nevada voer proec-
ion direcor o special projecs, and counsel and direcor o communicaions or he
Democraic Naional Convenion Hos Commitee in Charlote, Norh Carolina.Fields legal experience includes nearly hree years o work in he courroom as a
public deender in Washingon Sae and appellae pracice a he Innocence Projec
Norhwes Clinic. Field received his B.A. rom Te George Washingon Universiy
and his J.D. rom he Universiy o Washingon School o Law.
Charles Posneris he Sae Communicaions Assisan in he TinkProgress
War Room, where he provides communicaions, research, and analyical sup-
por on a wide range o issues. Prior o joining American Progress, he worked a
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, specializing in U.S. poliical issues, and wih
Organizing or America in Ohio on campaigns o overurn a voer suppression law
and proec collecive bargaining righs or public-secor unions. Posner graduaed
wih a bachelors degree in poliical science rom Brown Universiy.
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Acknowledgements
Te auhors o his repor would like o exend a special hanks o Advancemen
Projec, Brennan Cener or Jusice, and Te Pew Chariable russ or heir
work on his issue. Te auhors also would like o hank Universiy o Arizona
Assisan Proessor Dr. Ozan Jaquete, Ph.D., and he Bus Federaion or heiradvice and inpu on his repor. Finally, he auhors would like o acknowledge
he ousanding Cener or American Progress inerns Bren DeBeaumon, Lucy
Hoagland, Andrew Reagan, William Rusche, and Daniel Schieneld or heir
invaluable help on his repor.
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Methodology
Sources
Tis repor relies primarily on wo governmenal daa sources. Te bulk o he
voing daa comes rom he U.S. Elecion Assisance Commission, or EAC, whichcollecs inormaion on voer regisraion, provisional and absenee ballos, voer
lis mainenance, and more hrough is Elecion Adminisraion and Voing Survey.
For he voing populaions, he U.S. Census Bureau provides couny-level daa on
he ciizen voing-age populaion, or CVAP, which is commonly used o deer-
mine he number o eligible voers in a given locaion. Tis was used o calculae
voer urnou raes and raes o regisered voers. I should be noed ha he
mos recen CVAP daa available were 2011 esimaes, while he inormaion on
regisered voers is rom 2012. Ta, in combinaion wih he margin o error buil
ino he CVAP calculaions and he ac ha CVAP is an esimae, conribues owhy several counies appear o have a higher number o regisered voers han he
populaion eligible o voe.
Te source or waiing imes comes rom an Advancemen Projec repor ha
observed precincs around he sae in he 2012 elecions and calculaed he
average ime i ook afer polls closed in each couny or he las voe o be cas.
While his figure does no represen he average waiing ime over he course o
he whole day, i does serve as a reasonable approximaion o how backlogged
counies were in accommodaing voers. Advancemen Projec did no have
waiing-ime daa or every couny ha his repor analyzed. Tese counies were
no penalized in he final rankings or he lack o daa.
Selecting the factors
Te repor isel goes ino deail abou why each o he acors was chosen o be
included in he couny rankings and heir significance o voing accessibiliy.
Broadly, we seleced he acors so as o capure he ull voing processrom he
wides view o voing accessibiliy down o he narrow experiences and challenges
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some voers ace. I should be noed, however, ha he daa poins used o deer-
mine he rankings in his repor are limied by he couny-based daa ha he EAC
chooses o solici and ulimaely make available. Tis saisically based analysis
should be used as a saring poin o invesigae why one counys perormance in
a given daa caegory is differen han Floridas saisical mean or ha daa poin.
o ge a holisic view o wha happened on Elecion Day, hese rankings should becompared o anecdoal evidence regarding problems ha occurred on he ground
while Floridians were casing heir voes.
Raes o regisered voers and overall voer urnou provide a wide picure o how
each couny ares on he basic measures. Tese include is ciizenrys ineres in
voing, is abiliy o regiser, and is abiliy o ge o he polls. Te couny rankings
include he regisraion raes among Arican American and Hispanic populaions
as separae acors or a more deailed picure o how communiies o color wihin
each couny may also be affeced, perhaps differenly han he overall populaion.
Te remaining acors offer a sharper analysis o some o he common problems
ha complicae, inringe upon, or obsruc he righ o voe. Tese acors include
voer lis mainenance, long wai imes, high raes o provisional ballos cas and
rejeced, and absenee ballos rejeced. O course, in individual cases, acions
such as rejecing provisional or absenee ballos or purging voer regisraions are
jusifiable, necessary, and consisen wih he law. As we explain below, however,
he rankings are deermined no by he simple number o hese insances bu by
deviaion rom he sae averagein which ouliers are more likely o be indica-
ive o sysemic couny-based problems.
Determining Which Counties to Include in Our Analysis
Counies wih smaller populaions have smaller sample sizes ha are more likely
o be abnormally influenced by saisically unrelaed anomalies. Te mehod by
which he rankings were calculaedsandard deviaions rom he meanwould
have improperly magnified he significance o hese daa ouliers. In order o
have a more consisen daa se, we made a mehodological decision o exclude
counies ha had ciizen voing-age populaions less han one quarer o he mean
Florida Couny ciizen voing-age populaion. Tis excludes counies ha have a
ciizen voing-age populaion o ewer han around 48,500. Excluding he smallescounies bes achieved our goal o providing an accurae picure o voing adminis-
raion successes and ailures across Florida.
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Ranking the counties
Te 40 counies ha we analyzed were ranked according o how much beter or
worse he couny ared on each o he nine acors when compared o he sae
average. Saisically, his was done by firs calculaing he sandard deviaion,
represened by S, or each acor, using he ormula below:
In his way, oulier counies wih acors wih larger sandard deviaions are no
penalized as much as oulier counies wih acors wih smaller ones. Ten, couny
-values were calculaed or each individual acor, using he ormula below:
Tis deermines, or each acor, he number o sandard deviaions away rom
he mean each couny was. Counies ha perormed worse han he sae mean
received negaive -values, and hose ha perormed beter received posiive
-values. Finally, he -values were averaged across he nine acorsor i a couny
was missing daa or a single acor, across he number o acors or which i had
daao produce a single number o how much beter or worse he couny per-
ormed han he sae average. Te couny wih he smalles number, or he couny
ha on average was he arhes number o sandard deviaions below he sae
average, was he wors.
A statistical look
Our ranking mehod is a saisically compeen approach o no only ideniy
he wors perorming counies as a whole bu also o provide insigh ino how
counies perormed wihin each acor. Oher effors, such as Te Pew Chariablerusss Elecion Perormance Index,96have done an excellen job using acors
similar o hose we evaluaed o rank elecion adminisraion perormance a he
sae level. By evaluaing hese acors on a couny level, we have demonsraed
ha a voing experience can also vary grealy a he local level. We recognize, how-
ever, ha numbers are no everyhing.
8/13/2019 Fl Voting Report
35/39
32 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Floridas Worst Election Offenders
While he daa used o calculae hese rankings are limied o daa ha are col-
leced and made available by he EAC and oher groups, anecdoal evidence
would provide addiional insigh ino he problems ha Floridians aced on
Elecion Day. Tese daa, however, are no sysemaically colleced, and i is hard
o adjus or acors such as populaion and media sauraion.
We hope ha our couny-based saisical look a elecion adminisraion in Florida
can be used as a oundaion or hose on he ground in Florida counies o consider
ways o improve heir perormance and begin conversaions abou wha can be
done o ensure ha all ciizens can exercise heir righ o voe as reely as possible.
8/13/2019 Fl Voting Report
36/39
33 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Floridas Worst Election Offenders
Endnotes
1 National Voter Registration Act, Public Law 103-31, 103rdCong., 1st sess. (May 20, 1993); Help America Vote Act,Public Law 107-252, 107th Cong., 1st sess. (October 29,2002).
2 Tanya Somanader, Florida GOP Passes Overhaul of
Election Law, Jeopardizing Voting Rights of Elderly, Mili-tary, Students, ThinkProgress, May 9, 2011, available athttp://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/05/09/164865/florida-voter-law/.
3 Florida House of Representatives, CS/CS/HB 1355: Elec-tions, available at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sec-tions/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0(last accessed September 2013).
4 Marc Caputo, County elections chiefs to state: Wewont resume voter purge program, The Miami Herald,June 8, 2012, available at http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/07/2838176/county-elections-chiefs-to-state.html.
5 Brittany Shammas, Election 2012: Long election linesdelay results in Lee County, Naples News, November6, 2012, available at http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/06/long-election-lines-delay-results-in-lee-county/.
6 Christina Vazquez, Voting in Brickell takes some 7hours, Local10.com, November 7, 2012, available athttp://www.local10.com/news/Voting-in-Brickell-takes-some-7-hours/-/1717324/17293368/-/9kg3hr/-/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter.
7 Jeremy W. Peters, Waiting Times at Ballot Boxes DrawScrutiny, The New York Times, February 4, 2013, avail-able athttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/poli-tics/waiting-times-to-vote-at-polls-draw-scrutiny.html.
8 Tampa Bay Times, Power Outages in Pinellas Countycause concern about polling sites, November 6, 2012,
available at http://tbtpics.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/power-outages-in-pinellas-county-cause-concern-about-polling-sites/1260158.
9 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey (2013), availableat http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/990-050%20EAC%20VoterSurvey_508Compliant.pdf.
10 Sun Sentinel,Palm Beach County finishes vote count,November 10, 2012, available at http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-10/news/fl-vote-count-palm-beach-county-20121110_1_absentee-ballots-election-day-tabulation-machines.
11 In selecting and developing these factors, we are grate-ful to be able to build upon The Pew Charitable Trustssgreat work on these issues. See The Pew Charitable
Trusts, Elections Performance Index (2013), available
at http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elec-tions-performance-index-85899445029.
12 Michael C. Herron and Daniel A. Smith, Conges-tion at the Polls: A Study of Florida Precincts in the2012 General Election (Washington: Advance-ment Project, 2013), available at http://b.3cdn.net/advancement/88f591c5cdad8054fd_evm6vt2b8.pdf.
13 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Matt Dixon, New law sparks increase in use ofprovisional ballots in Florida counties, The FloridaTimes-Union, November 18, 2012, available at http://
jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-11-18/story/new-law-sparks-increase-use-provisional-ballots-florida-counties#ixzz2jLu5IRFY
18 Ibid.
19 Howard Steven Friedman, American Voter TurnoutLower Than Other Wealthy Countries, HuffPost Politics,July 7, 2012, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/voter-turnout-europe-america_b_1660271.html.
20 Marjorie Randon Hershey, What We Know aboutVoter-ID Laws, Registration, and Turnout (Washington:Brennan Center for Justice, 2009), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/
Democracy/VRE/Hershey.pdf.
21 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey.
22 Florida Division of Elections, Who Can Register to Vote,available at http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registra-tion/voter-reg.shtml(last accessed November 2013).
23 Aaron Deslatte and Kathleen Haughney, Legislaturepasses broad overhaul of election laws, OrlandoSentinel, May 5, 2011, available at http://articles.orlan-dosentinel.com/2011-05-05/news/os-elections-bill-passes-20110505_1_early-voting-league-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-database;Dara Kam, Gov. Scottsigns contentious election law that limits early votingdays, voter registration groups, The Palm Beach Post,May 19, 2011, available at http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-con-
tentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/.
24 Deborah Charles, Voter Registration Groups RacingAgainst Time In Post-Purge Florida, The HuffingtonPost, September 16, 2012, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.html.
25 Brennan Center for Justice, League of Women Votersof Florida v. Browning, August 29, 2012, available athttp://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-florida-v-browning-0.
26 Charles, Voter Registration Groups Racing AgainstTime In Post-Purge Florida.
27 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2010 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey (2011), available athttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/990-281_
EAC_EAVS_508_revised.pdf.
28 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid
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ue-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-databasehttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-florida-v-browning-0http://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-florida-v-browning-0http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/990-281_EAC_EAVS_508_revised.pdfhttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/990-281_EAC_EAVS_508_revised.pdfhttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/990-281_EAC_EAVS_508_revised.pdfhttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/990-281_EAC_EAVS_508_revised.pdfhttp://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-florida-v-browning-0http://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-florida-v-browning-0http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/florida-voter-purge-registration-groups-return_n_1887805.htmlhttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-scott-signs-contentious-election-law-that-limi/nLsYR/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-05/news/os-elections-bill-passes-20110505_1_early-voting-league-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-databasehttp://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-05/news/os-elections-bill-passes-20110505_1_early-voting-league-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-databasehttp://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-05/news/os-elections-bill-passes-20110505_1_early-voting-league-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-databasehttp://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-05/news/os-elections-bill-passes-20110505_1_early-voting-league-of-women-voters-statewide-voter-databasehttp://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/voter-reg.shtmlhttp://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/voter-reg.shtmlhttp://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Democracy/VRE/Hershey.pdfhttp://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Democracy/VRE/Hershey.pdfhttp://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Democracy/VRE/Hershey.pdfhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/voter-turnout-europe-america_b_1660271.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/voter-turnout-europe-america_b_1660271.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/voter-turnout-europe-america_b_1660271.htmlhttp://b.3cdn.net/advancement/88f591c5cdad8054fd_evm6vt2b8.pdfhttp://b.3cdn.net/advancement/88f591c5cdad8054fd_evm6vt2b8.pdfhttp://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-10/news/fl-vote-count-palm-beach-county-20121110_1_absentee-ballots-election-day-tabulation-machineshttp://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-10/news/fl-vote-count-palm-beach-county-20121110_1_absentee-ballots-election-day-tabulation-machineshttp://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-10/news/fl-vote-count-palm-beach-county-20121110_1_absentee-ballots-election-day-tabulation-machineshttp://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-11-10/news/fl-vote-count-palm-beach-county-20121110_1_absentee-ballots-election-day-tabulation-machineshttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/990-050%20EAC%20VoterSurvey_508Compliant.pdfhttp://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/990-050%20EAC%20VoterSurvey_508Compliant.pdfhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/politics/waiting-times-to-vote-at-polls-draw-scrutiny.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/politics/waiting-times-to-vote-at-polls-draw-scrutiny.htmlhttp://www.local10.com/news/Voting-in-Brickell-takes-some-7-hours/-/1717324/17293368/-/9kg3hr/-/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterhttp://www.local10.com/news/Voting-in-Brickell-takes-some-7-hours/-/1717324/17293368/-/9kg3hr/-/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterhttp://www.local10.com/news/Voting-in-Brickell-takes-some-7-hours/-/1717324/17293368/-/9kg3hr/-/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterhttp://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/06/long-election-lines-delay-results-in-lee-county/http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/06/long-election-lines-delay-results-in-lee-county/http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/06/long-election-lines-delay-results-in-lee-county/http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/07/2838176/county-elections-chiefs-to-state.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/07/2838176/county-elections-chiefs-to-state.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/07/2838176/county-elections-chiefs-to-state.htmlhttp://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46543&SessionIndex=-1&SessionId=66&BillText=&BillNumber=1355&BillSponsorIndex=0&BillListIndex=0&BillStatuteText=&BillTypeIndex=0&BillReferredIndex=0&HouseChamber=H&BillSearchIndex=0http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/05/09/164865/florida-voter-law/http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/05/09/164865/florida-voter-law/8/13/2019 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35 Center for American Progress Action Fund | Floridas Worst Election Offenders
76 Noah Pranksy, Hillsborough County Supervisor ofElections office loses power, endures other electionday problems, WTSP News, November 6, 2012,available at http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=281319.
77 Ibid.
78 Pranksy, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Electionsoffice loses power, endures other election day prob-lems; Barbara Liston, FL Election 2012: Behind Ab-sentee Voting & Early Voting Figures, HuffPost Politics,
November 6, 2012, available at http://www.huffing-tonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.html; Richard Danielson, National voting rightscoalition raises concern about voting in HillsboroughCounty, Tampa Bay Times, November 6, 2012, availableat http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739. Tampa Bay Times,Power Outages in Pinellas County cause concernabout polling sites.
79 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid.
82 Ibid.
83 Liston, FL Election 2012: Behind Absentee Voting &Early Voting Figures.
84 Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, Recommenda-tions for Increased Accessibility & Efficiency in FloridaElections.
85 Herald-Tribune, Anti-voter bill, May 9, 2011, availableat http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110509/OPINION/110509642/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg&tc=ar.
86 Somanader, Florida GOP Passes Overhaul of ElectionLaw, Jeopardizing Voting Rights of Elderly, Military,Students.
87 Herald-Tribune, Anti-voter bill.
88 U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2012 ElectionAdministration and Voting Survey.
89 Florida Secretary of State, at 6.
90 Ibid.
91 Adam Weinstein, Palm Beach County Screws UpAnother Presidential Election, Mother Jones, October29, 2012, available athttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-election.
92 Election Protection, Florida (2012), available at http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdf.
93 Election Protection and Lawyers Committee for CivilRights Under Law, Our Broken Voting System and Howto Repair It (2012), available at http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdf.
94 Daniel Lippman, Palm Beach County Voters Get TheAbsentee Ballot Shaft: Todays Votes of Incompetence,
HuffPost Politics, November 2, 2012, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.html.
95 Sun Sentinel,Palm Beach County finishes vote count.
96 The Pew Charitable Trusts, Elections PerformanceIndex.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=281319http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=281319http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110509/OPINION/110509642/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg&tc=arhttp://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110509/OPINION/110509642/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg&tc=arhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/palm-beach-county-voters_n_2065694.htmlhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/document/EP-2012-Full-Report.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/publications/body/EP2012-StateReports-FL.pdfhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-electionhttp://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110509/OPINION/110509642/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg&tc=arhttp://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110509/OPINION/110509642/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg&tc=arhttp://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/content/national-voting-rights-coalition-raises-concern-about-voting-hillsborough-county/2004739http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/fl-election-2012_n_2040733.htmlhttp://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=281319http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=2813198/13/2019 Fl Voting Report
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