How Seminole County election officials detect voter fraud

Signature check is highly effective

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County’s Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson said they have systems in place to catch voter fraud.

“As you can see, that case in Manatee County is proof all in itself that, you think you can try and test the system, you’re going to find out that you can’t, that we’re going to catch it, and when we do, it will be prosecuted,” Anderson said.

News 6 asked Anderson specifically about what checks happen if someone tries to vote for a deceased relative.

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He said, first of all, the death index is something they are constantly reviewing. He added that they cross-check the voter rolls with the death index.

But if they were to receive a fraudulent ballot, Anderson said, there’s only one check point in place -- the signature check.

He said the ballot has to go through the verification process, where they review a voter’s signatures on file with the signature that’s on the envelope.

News 6 asked Anderson how confident he is in the signature check.

“Oh, very confident, like I said, it is not easy to forge someone’s signature, folks, it’s going to catch it, it will catch it,” Anderson said.

Anderson said that the ballot is run through a machine, and if an issue with the ballot is detected, it must then go through a manual inspection.

He said a voter’s record is then pulled to see all of their signatures on file.

Anderson also said that supervisor of elections are constantly looking at their processes to make sure all of the proper checks are in place.


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