An unlocked door at the Big Pine Community Park, one of five early-voting sites in the Florida Keys, prompted immediate action by the county’s elections chief.
Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies announced on Oct. 18 that she had swapped out the voting tabulator machines at the Big Pine Community Park early-voting site after a citizen told her and a county park employee that a door to the site had been discovered unlocked, leaving the voting machines inside accessible and unattended.
The equipment had been placed there in preparation for early voting, which had not yet started when the unlocked door was discovered and the voting machine was replaced.
The county employee had immediately secured the door. Hodies visited the site to confirm the polling location was secured and that the machines had not been tampered with. Hodies also met with sheriff’s deputies, who are investigating the incident, and with county staff to request additional security at the polling location.
On Oct. 18, Hodies and her staff, under the supervision of the Monroe County Canvassing Board, conducted logic and accuracy testing on voting tabulator machines that had been held in reserve at the Key West elections office. Once the tests were completed with no issues, Hodies supervised the transport of the substitute machines by Monroe County staff to the Big Pine early-voting site.
The machine substitution was done “to eliminate any question that the unlocked door affected the accuracy of the early-voting results from the Big Pine site,” Hodies said in a press release issued Oct. 18, adding that she also replaced the electronic voter identification systems used to register voters at that location.
Early voting started Oct. 19 and runs until Saturday, Oct. 31, which includes two Saturdays and one Sunday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at five locations in Monroe County:
- Supervisor of Elections headquarters, 5200 College Road, Key West.
- Big Pine Community Park, 31009 Atlantis Drive, Big Pine Key.
- Supervisor of Elections office, 10015 Overseas Hwy, Marathon.
- Community Center in old courthouse, 88820 Overseas Hwy., Plantation Key.
- Murray Nelson Government Center, 102050 Overseas Hwy., Key Largo.
“Once alerted to the problem, we took immediate steps to secure the room and replace the tabulator machines and electronic voter identification systems at Big Pine Community Park to eliminate any question about the results from that location,” Hodies said. “While the election equipment was not compromised, we acted to ensure voter confidence in the election results. I want to thank Sheriff Rick Ramsay, his deputies, Canvassing Board members, Judge Al Kelley, Judge Derek Lewis, Tax Collector Sam Steele and county staff for their efforts to ensure voters can cast their votes with confidence at the Big Pine Community Park through Saturday, Oct. 31.”
More information is available from Hodies at 305-292-3416.
