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Voting equipment tested ahead of Tampa special election
Ahead of the special election for the Tampa City Council District 5 seat, the elections supervisor’s office says the counting machines are up-to-snuff. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - The race for the District 5 seat on Tampa's City Council is entering its final weeks. The Hillsborough County Canvassing Board tested its voting equipment on Thursday to ensure it's ready for the special election coming up on September 9.
It comes amid a renewed focus on election integrity following comments from President Donald Trump about mail-in voting.
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What they're saying:
The ballot for Tampa's District 5 seat has 13 people on it, and the elections' supervisor has proof they'll all get a fair shake when it's time to count.
"This test has verified the accuracy of the tabulation," Craig Latimer, the Hillsborough County elections' supervisor, said.
They ran 1,587 sample ballots through their counting machines, and made sure the tabulation matched the count they already had – indeed, it did.
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"We do everything we can to get it right every time we put the pressure on ourselves," said Latimer. "Quite frankly, we're the ones that are under the microscope to each other."
Big picture view:
The District 5 test comes as the president focuses again on America's voting processes.
Despite there being no evidence that any recent elections in America have been determined by voter fraud, he has insisted the federal government dissuade states from offering mail-in ballots, claiming, again without offering proof, that they are rigged to help Democrats.
"You can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots," said Trump several weeks ago. "And we, as a Republican Party, are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots."
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The other side:
In the wake of those comments from a few weeks ago, Governor Ron DeSantis tried to shield Florida's system from the damage, insisting the president must only have been talking about other states, ones that send ballots to all voters.
In Florida, mail ballots must be requested.
"I would be fine [with] voting on Election Day," said DeSantis. "Now, a lot of people like having the time to early vote or whatever. And so that's just been built into the Florida system."
The Hillsborough supervisor points out that mail-in ballots in the District 5 special election, like all in Florida, are verified with the voter and the state to make sure there aren't duplicates, and that the signature matches on every returned ballot.
"You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than you do see in voter fraud," said Latimer. "You know, there is instances of it. It's very, very minor."
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What's next:
In the District 5 election there have been 4,585 mail ballots requested. Early voting will take place from September 4-7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at four locations around the city.
Mail ballots must be returned to the elections supervisor's office by 7 p.m. on September 9.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank.