Collier County adds security to protect votes during election

After the 2016 election, Collier County Supervisor of Elections, Jennifer Edwards, is taking extra steps to ensure that every vote is counted this year.

“Every meeting we’ve attended, every conference, any kind of special training we’ve been able to access, we’ve taken advantage of it,” Edwards said.

Collier County is not only working with homeland security and the FBI, but also with the Secretary of State’s office. They’ve created a new team to help us ensure we’re protected.

In Collier County, they use state-certified equipment stored in a secure operations center under 24-hour surveillance.

CAMPAIGN CENTRAL: Florida’s 2018 Primary Election Results

The supervisor’s office says that equipment is carefully tested and checked.

“Seals with numbers on them so we develop a robust chain of custody for every piece of equipment that goes out of here, every ballot that goes out of here, everything is counted and has a seal on it with a number on it so that when it reaches where it’s going, to the polling location, and again the seals are checked,” Edwards said.

Results go to a stand-alone system that’s not connected to the internet. Ballots are counted by hand in randomly selected precincts to ensure the machine count is correct.

The supervisor’s office says their network is closely surveyed.