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Home > Meet the Team > Duties and Responsibilities
  

Duties and Responsibilities

The county Supervisor of Elections, as defined in the Florida Constitution, is a constitutional officer and 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 citizens and voters of Walton County. By virtue of his/her duties, the Supervisor of Elections is an agent of the state in the county.

Apart from general administration and office functions, the duties and/or responsibilities of the Elections Office include, but are not limited to:
 

State, Multi-County, County, and Special District Election Administration

  • Testing voting equipment and programs prior to each election
  • Conducting post-election reconciliation and audits of voting equipment and ballots
  • Designing, printing and proofing ballots
  • Programming the election database in the election management system
  • Programming the election in the voter registration system
  • Processing requests for and mailing ballots to absentee voters, including military and overseas voters
  • Receiving and tallying mail ballots
  • Verifying signatures on mail ballots
  • Conduct early voting periods at designated locations
  • Provide secure ballot intake stations for directly returning mail ballots
  • Conducting supervised absentee voting for assisted living facilities or nursing homes upon request
  • Publishing required notices and documents, including sample ballots
  • Posting required notices in all polling places
  • Providing registration books, supplies, and signage to each polling location
  • Approving designated poll watchers
  • Notifying voters of issues with their ballots
  • Tabulation, accumulation, and reporting of election results
  • Canvassing, and certifying election returns
  • Publishing election results and other records
  • Updating voter records with voting history and changes
  • Conducting machine and manual recounts, when required
  • Conduct non-regularly scheduled Special Elections as needed

Municipal (City) Election Assistance

  • Municipalities (Cities) oversee conducting their own elections. As requested and contracted by each municipality (3 total) in Walton County, this office may assist with services, such as candidate qualifying, campaign finance reporting, election administration (see above section), canvassing board assistance, audits, recounts, and more.
  • Consult with municipalities on charter amendments and other election-related activities

Petition Verification and Certification Process

  • City, county, district, state, and federal candidate petitions
  • Constitutional amendments and county issues
  • Municipal referenda and recall

Candidate Qualifying and Assistance

  • General information to prospective candidates
  • Research and preparation of qualifying packets
  • Briefings and assistance with forms
  • Pre-filing, qualifying, and certifying county, district, and special district candidates
  • Collecting candidate qualifying fees and remitting to appropriate agencies
  • Filing of political party officials

 

Campaign Report Management and Auditing

  • Receiving of completed campaign finance reports
  • Monitoring campaign reports and assessing fines when necessary
  • Pre-filed and Qualified Candidates
  • Political Parties
  • PAC’s and Committees of Continuous Existence
  • Incumbents’ Office Accounts

 

Financial Disclosure Reporting and Management

  • Distributing, receiving, and reporting annual Financial Disclosures from certain officers, elected officials, and employees of local government and reporting to the state
  • Coordination with Ethics Commission and governing bodies in county 

 

Voter Registration

  • Implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA)
  • Coordination with the Florida Voter Registration System (FVRS)
  • Coordination with outside agencies and third parties
  • Processing and validating all registration applications from all sources
  • Digital conversion and retention of voter records
  • Creation, printing, and processing of documents mailed to voters
  • Eligibility and list maintenance activities
  • Maintenance of voter lists and statistics

 

Election Worker Management

  • Continuous record maintenance for approximately 200 workers
  • Recruiting, appointing, and training poll workers in election law and procedures prior to each election
  • Developing training manuals and materials for poll workers, including the online training platform
  • Newsletters and correspondence
  • Employment and payroll records 

 

Precinct and District Management

  • Coordination with county GIS Department on mapping and addressing
  • Adding new streets/address points to the system and assigning them to the correct precinct and districts
  • Updating district boundaries due to annexations and other changes
  • Creation and maintenance of street/address point index
  • Adjusting voting precincts to accommodate redistricting, population growth, and voting trend changes
  • Redistricting from reapportionment of federal, state, and local districts
  • Notifying voters of district, precinct, and polling place changes
  • Developing and providing access to precinct and district maps

 

Polling Place Management and Logistics

  • Inspection for ADA compliance
  • Election scheduling for delivery, use and pickup
  • Contract maintenance and record keeping
  • Continuous review of growth patterns, location changes
  • Delivering, setting up, and retrieving voting equipment for each polling location

 

Technology

  • Cooperative arrangement with the county information technology department
  • Maintaining and safeguarding of hardware, software, and network systems, including voting equipment
  • Hardware and software purchase and installation
  • Ongoing documentation review, continuing education, best practices, and training
  • Long-term technology planning and updating
  • Continual training and vigilance to ensure compliance in practice
  • Ongoing maintenance and updates to security procedures

     

Voter Education and Outreach

  • Voter education programs and publications
  • Public notices and press relations
  • Civic speaking engagements and public presentations
  • Website and social media
  • School elections and outreach programs
  • Other civic organization elections and outreach programs
  • Vote in Honor of a Veteran program
  • Coordination with retiring used American flags

 

Record Management

  • Receiving and responding to public records requests
  • Archive maintenance, retention, and destruction of physical and digital records
  • Extensive research and reporting to individuals and agencies

 

Warehouse Management

  • Election equipment storage and maintenance
  • Inventory storage and control

 

Administration

  • Cooperative arrangements with Clerk of Court Finance and HR Departments for contracted services
  • Effective and conservative financial stewardship
  • Apply for and administer federal and state grants
  • Provide input to legislative delegation and other members and staff of legislature
  • Provide input to Florida Division of Elections
  • Provide input in the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE) association
  • Provide economic impact analyses on proposed legislation
  • Coordinate with the Board of County Commissioners, administration, and staff
  • Updating for changes in procedures and forms

 

 

 

Main Office: map This link will direct you to an external website.  
Walton County Courthouse
571 US Hwy 90 East, Suite 102
DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433

PHONE: (850) 892-8112 
FAX: (850) 892-8113
HOURS: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm                 

Branch Office: map This link will direct you to an external website.
Walton County Courthouse Annex
31 Coastal Centre Blvd, Suite 300
Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

PHONE: (850) 622-0744
FAX: (850) 622-1291
HOURS: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
 

This website is provided as a source for public information. The Walton County Supervisor of Elections makes every effort to ensure the information provided is accurate. However, no warranties, expressed or implied, are provided for the data herein, its use or interpretation.

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