Managing Absentee Ballot Requests in Miami-Dade County, FL

Article January 22, 2014 Read time:

Projects: Election Initiatives

The Miami-Dade County, FL elections department has partnered with its software vendor to make it easier for staff to review online requests for absentee ballots, improving security against potential fraud. This effort, which will add no cost to the ongoing contract with the software vendor, was launched after thousands of questionable requests were made during the 2012 election.

A second security option that state officials considered would have required usernames and passwords for all individuals requesting an absentee ballot online. The department concluded that this would require an upfront investment of approximately $843,000 and possible recurring costs of $743,000 for every major election, while also making the process more complex for potential voters.

The supervisor of elections chose the simpler option, which automates part of the process, while still requiring staff to manually review requests.