SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office says it is launching a new initiative to make elections safer and more secure.
Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson is making a promise to voters that their vote will be protected. On Wednesday, he announced a new partnership with other local state agencies, called EVOLVE.
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Anderson stressed that there were no issues during the 2020 election, but he wants voters to know that the integrity of future elections will be upheld.
He said one of the key things the new partnership will do is combat the misinformation that often spreads around social media like wildfire.
“The EVOLVE partnership will focus on enhancing vote operations and lifting the voter experience because elections administration must continue to evolve,” Anderson said.
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Anderson said he is developing a cybersecurity task force, forming partnerships with the Florida National Guard Cybersecurity Unit, the state attorney’s office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office to investigate voter irregularities.
Anderson said the program will also help make the election process safer for election workers.
Anderson said he’s had to endure being called racial slurs, and he and others in his office have received death threats recently, all because of political distrust and elections.
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He said he could not elaborate on the death threat they received because of an active ongoing investigation but said today’s political climate and election misinformation is taking its toll. He says being prepared is the key.
“That is another piece, yes, that we are experiencing now as elected officials, we are having to consider some things that we didn’t have to,” he said.
Anderson says new security measures are in place for staff, such as extra lighting in parking lots.
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Anderson said instead of increasing law enforcement presence at polling locations, which he said would intimidate voters, they are partnering with the sheriff’s office to train clerks, assistant clerks and eventually all poll workers in safety awareness, even including active shooter training to make them feel safer at polling locations.
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