Approximately 150 voters impacted by Hurricane Michael in Florida’s Bay County were reportedly allowed by county election officials to vote via email.
Although casting a ballot by email is barred by Florida law, the Miami Herald reports that Bay County Elections Supervisor Mark Andersen said an estimated 150 voters displaced from the hurricane submitted their votes via email and that the ballots were verified by signature.
Andersen defended the decision as being needed because these displaced voters haven’t been able to get back to their homes as law enforcement continue to block access to parts of the country after the storm.
Hurricane Michael struck Florida in October, and Gov. Rick Scott, who is the GOP candidate in the race for U.S. Senate, issued an executive order permitting some counties to provide a longer early voting period or establish more voting locations. But the order said that votes could not be submitted via email or fax.
[Also read: Who is Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes?]
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is the Democrat running in Florida’s gubernatorial race, condemned the move.
“These are the stories that we know,” Gillum said. “Imagine the ones that we don’t.”
Gillum, who initially conceded to his Republican challenger former Rep. Ron DeSantis, is getting a second chance as his race was deemed close enough to trigger recount. Recounts are also underway for Florida’s Senate race and agriculture commissioner contest.
On Monday, President Trump said the race should be called for DeSantis, to which Gillum questioned why Republicans were eager to call the race since the next governor won’t take office until January.
“Not one supervisor, not one governor, not one president — if that’s what we want to call him — should be able to take away our sense of hope,” Gillum said in response to Trump’s tweet.
