Elections Office Overview


THE COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, a constitutional officer, must follow all state and federal election laws. Statutes are very often only the starting point for appropriate and legal election management, and the supervisor must go far beyond Florida Statutes and U.S. Code to:

Rules as promulgated by the Department of State in the Florida Administrative Code
Legal opinions from the Division of Elections, Department of State, the State Attorney General, and the U.S. Department of Justice Case law as set forth by Circuit Court, District Court of Appeals, Florida Supreme Court, Federal District Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

To comply with all the above, we are financially dependent on the Board of County Commissioners and accountable to the taxpayers and voters of Okaloosa County. By virtue of his/her duties, the Supervisor of Elections is an agent of the state in the county.

 


  1. Petition Verification and Certification Process
    • City, county, district, state and federal candidates
    • Constitutional amendments and county issues
    • Municipal referenda and recall
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  3. Candidate Assistance
    • Research and preparation of qualifying packets
    • Briefings and assistance with forms
    • Individual and group training sessions
    • Pre-filing, qualifying, and certifying candidates
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  5. Campaign Report Management and Auditing
    • Pre-filed and Qualified Candidates
    • Political Parties
    • PAC’s and Committees of Continuous Existence
    • Incumbents’ Office Accounts
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  7. Financial Disclosure Form Processing and Maintenance
    • Over 900 elected and appointed officials in Okaloosa County
    • Coordination with Ethics Commission and all governing bodies in county
    • Expensive unfunded state mandate paid for by county and administered by Supervisor of Elections office.
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  9. Voter Registration and Voter Outreach
    • Implementation of NVRA
    • Coordination with many outside agencies
    • All applications from any source (agency, mail, walk-in, etc.) must still be processed and validated in our offices.
    • 500% increase in production of documents leading to large increases in labor costs, printing, postage, automation, additional clerical tasks
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  11. Data Processing
    • Hardware and software purchase and installation
    • Complex network maintenance
    • Documentation and training (ongoing)
    • Long-term technology planning and updating
    • Florida Voter Registration System protocols
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  13. Civil Rights Restoration
    • Only agency in county providing assistance and paperwork
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  15. Statistics
    • Extensive research and reporting to individuals and agencies
    • Economic impact analyses of programs and legislation
    • Archive maintenance in office

     

  16. Poll Worker Management
    • Continuous record maintenance on over 700 workers
    • Training manuals and classes
    • Newsletters and correspondence
    • Employment and payroll records
    • Development of training video and web-based training modules

     

  17. Precinct/District Management
    • Coordination with GIS on mapping and addressing
    • Creation and maintenance of street index
      • Multiple-person dwellings and mail-drop indexing
    • Re-precincting to accommodate growth
    • Redistricting from reapportionment


  18. Polling Place Management and Logistics
    • Inspection for ADA compliance
    • Election scheduling for delivery, use and pickup
    • Contract maintenance and record keeping
    • Annual review of growth patterns, location changes

     

  19. Security Procedures
    • Manual written in compliance with Rule 1S-2.015
    • Continual training and vigilance to insure compliance in practice
    • Office subject to performance audit by independent authority
    • Covers all aspects of election conduct from creating election schedule to tabulation and certification by canvassing board
    • Updating for changes in procedures and forms

     

  20. Absentee Voting
    • Military voters’ ballots subject to consent decree by Justice Department
    • Trend in increased absentee voting very labor-intensive and costly
    • Requires two coordinators and several staff to maintain records and security during election cycle
    • More than 10,000 absent electors on record
    • Advance absentee ballots in general election years

     

  21. Pilot Projects
    • Federal Voting Assistance Program Voting on the Internet
    • High School Internet voting project for Presidential Preference Primary

     

  22. Voter Education
    • Publications such as Voter’s Guide
    • Public and press relations
      1. Speaking engagements, press releases and briefings
    • Year-round school programs
    • "Kids Vote, Too & Teens Vote Too" and programs in all county schools, K-12

     

  23. Record Management
    • Complex and costly list maintenance under NVRA
    • "Paper Forever" even with imaging
    • Public Record law, with restrictions on duplication
    • Florida Voter Registration System

     

  24. Warehouse Management
    • Election equipment storage and maintenance
    • Inventory storage and control
    • Record storage and control
    • Archive maintenance, retention and destruction

     

  25. Municipal Elections
    • Full conduct of eight cities’ elections
    • Consult with cities on charter amendments


  26. Administration
    • Cooperative arrangements with BCC Personnel Dept. and Finance Dept. to save money.
      1. We provide all paperwork, keep records internally.
      2. Internal cost accounting for accurate billing for services
    • Provide mail services to all departments in FWB County Administrative Bldg (Taj Mahal) except Water & Sewer

     

  27. Legislative Interaction
    • Extensive input to legislative delegation and other members and staff of legislature
    • Provide economic impact analyses on proposed legislation

     

  28. Additional programs
    • SOE web site www.govote-okaloosa.com
    • Web sites for Kids Vote Too and Teens Vote Too
    • Private sector internet voting project
    • Adviser/panelist for federal Election Administration Commission

     

  29. Voter Service
    • Anything we are asked to do that’s legal
    • If we don’t have the answer, we will find it.
    • Absolutely NO government-by-runaround!

    • (Direct election-related activities include: ballot layout, ballot planning and ordering, legal advertising, public tests, canvassing board, and tabulation. All those require activity regularly throughout the year.) 
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Main Office:

302 N Wilson St, Ste 102, Crestview, FL 32536-3474

Phone: (850) 689-5600 | Fax: (850) 689-5644
(M-F: 8am - 5pm)

Branch Office:

1250 Eglin Pkwy, Ste 103, Shalimar, FL 32579

Phone: (850) 651-7272
(M-F: 8am - 5pm)