Three counties’ election supervisors tried to put fears of a foreign influence to rest Thursday night.
About 25 people gathered to ask the election supervisors of Leon, Marion and Okaloosa counties about the upcoming election.
The purpose of the event was to address concerns of voter security and the safety of Florida residents’ ballots due to concerns raised during the 2016 election after reports of Russian hacking, said TJ Pyche, the director of outreach for the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
“Whenever we have an election, we want to make sure that people have confidence in the procedures we have in place,” Pyche said.
The election supervisors, Paul Lux of Okaloosa County, Wesley Wilcox of Marion County and Mark Earley of Leon County, addressed the crowd about ballot security and specific plans for November.
Susan Macmanus, the event moderator , said one in three Americans believe that a foreign influence will change election results this November.
In Okaloosa County, all ballots are kept in a bank vault after they are made, Lux said.
Leon County has amped up its security around ballot storage. It is installing more cameras and requiring photo ID to get in the door, Earley said.
Sue Gruner, 62, of Gainesville, said she has always been interested in anything election-related and decided to attend the event at the last minute.
The forum reassured her of Florida’s election procedures.
“I had no idea the amount of security that exists,” she said.
