JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With pressure building on the Duval County Canvassing Board to let the public see its review of vote-by-mail ballots, the board decided Tuesday to continue to exclude news cameras but to livestream the process.
The meeting scheduled for Monday was delayed for 24 hours and announced at the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting the Supervisor of Election’s Office would livestream the ballot review via Zoom.
Click play button above to watch.
News4Jax has shown the process for years: deciding the intent of the voter on any questionable vote-by-mail ballot. Members of the canvassing board are now concerned that some signatures of voters could end up shown to the public and and News4Jax has agreed never to show the, only the process to help voters understand why a particular vote was thrown out or not counted.
Canvassing board member and Jacksonville City Councilman Michael Boylan proposed the compromise, but the meeting was abruptly canceled before it was taken up.
“The amendment I proposed today (Monday) allows that to happen. That is the honest effort I was trying to offer with the amendment -- to provide you an opportunity to capture and share how the process works,” Boylan said. “I am working really hard to make sure we stay transparent through this process. What I think, my greatest concern is that there is a confidence on part of the voters out there that we are sincere in the work that we are doing and we’re doing it for the right reasons.”