The Supervisor of Elections administers all federal, state, county, municipal and special district elections in Suwannee County in accordance with the Florida election code, the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA), the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and federal voting rights laws.
Apart from general administration and office functions, the duties of the elections office include:
Voter Services
- Administering voter registration activities throughout the county in accordance with Florida election laws
- Processing all registration applications from qualified Florida residents
- Issuing voter information cards
- Maintaining accurate voter registration statistics
- Performing periodic list maintenance to ensure accurate and current voter registration records
- Maintaining precinct street index to ensure residential addresses are assigned to correct precinct and voting group
- Updating street index, as necessary, with zip code and address changes based on information received from post office, planning board, and city and county commissions
- Adding to index new streets, created by growth, and assigning them to precincts and voting groups
Elections
- Maintaining and safeguarding county voting equipment
- Testing voting equipment and programs and ballot tabulation equipment prior to each election
- Designing, printing and proofing ballots pursuant to Florida election law
- Processing requests for and mailing absentee ballots and related elections materials to absentee voters, including military and overseas voters
- Receiving and tallying absentee ballots
- Verifying signatures on absentee ballots
- Verifying signatures on initiative petitions and certifying results to state (DOE)
- Working with the county and municipalities on reapportionment, redistricting and drawing precinct boundaries
- Identifying and contracting with convenient and accessible polling places
- Conducting early voting at designated sites
- Conducting supervised absentee voting for assisted living facilities or nursing homes upon request
- Posting required notices in all polling places on election day, including instructions on how to cast a ballot
- Delivering, setting up and retrieving voting equipment for each polling location
- Providing equipment, registration books and all supplies and signage to each polling location on Election Day
- Approving poll watchers and providing lists of designated poll watchers to polling places
- Counting, canvassing and certifying election returns
- Notifying voters who cast provisional ballots if their ballots are rejected and the reason for rejection
- Recruiting and training poll workers in election law and procedures prior to each election
- Appointing clerks and additional workers as necessary for all polling locations
- Publishing uniform polling place procedures manual, which is provided to every worker and every polling place
Candidates/Committees/Parties
- Providing prospective candidates with general information and guidance
- Filing and Qualifying candidates for nomination or election to county, district and special district offices
- Verifying and certifying petition signatures for candidates who qualify by the petition process
- Collecting candidate qualifying fees and remitting to appropriate agency
- Performing or assisting with elections to municipalities, districts and special districts in conduct of their elections
- Receiving and reviewing for completion campaign finance reports and financial disclosure statements
- Monitoring campaign reports and assessing fines when necessary
- Providing filing forms and guidance to and receiving and reviewing for completion financial reports from political committees
- Receiving, reviewing for completion, and maintaining financial reports from political parties
- Receiving annual Form 1 Financial Disclosures from certain officers and employees of local government and reporting to the State
Voter Education
- Conducting nonpartisan education programs to ensure voters have knowledge of voting equipment and election procedures
- Publishing various information and voter guides to keep public informed about election news and law
- Maintaining a Web site to provide candidates, voters and general public with important information and news
- Distributing news releases to local news organizations to keep public informed of election news
- Receiving and responding to individual queries from public in person and/or via letter, phone and email
- Reporting annually to the state a detailed description of county voter education programs
- Receiving and responding to public records requests