Brevard County closes early voting location after election workers test positive for COVID-19

PALM BAY, Fla. — The Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Office announced Friday it temporarily closed the Palm Bay Administrative Office after election workers tested positive for COVID-19.

Officials said due to several safety measures, voters did not have direct exposure with the affected workers.

It is not known how many workers tested positive for the virus.

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“We have been maintaining stringent safety protocols since the Presidential Preference Primary in March,” said Supervisor Lori Scott. “It is a tribute to our strict safety measures that we have been able to process almost a half a million voters through the election process this year before having our first positive case.”

The Supervisors of Elections Office said voters who want to take advantage of early voting before Saturday’s deadline may visit any of the nine remaining early voting sites.

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For those who showed up expecting to vote Friday, it was a surprise.

“So I came out to do the early voting and apparently there was a COVID situation. So they’re passing out flyers with other places to go vote,” said Marco Escobar, a voter.

Ballots from the location have been taken to another building to be processed, but it’s not known if they had to be treated any differently, or if there is any impact to workers at the second site.

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The supervisor of elections doesn’t believe voters were impacted because of glass separating them from workers.

Three early voting sites, two in Palm Bay and a third in West Melbourne, are located less than 10 miles away from the temporarily closed Palm Bay office.

To see a full list of early voting sites in Brevard County, click here.

Cox Media Group