Osceola County voters forced to file provisional ballots

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla — Hundreds of voters in Osceola County couldn’t cast ballots Tuesday in Florida's primary election.

Some of them ended up filing provisional ballots, which are being reviewed by election officials, while other voters left without voting.

Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington and her staff are working to go through 560 provisional ballots filled out by voters who were unable to cast ballots on Tuesday.

Typically, in a general election, her staff would have to check about 200 provisional ballots.

“It’s important that every one of these are given the due process,” said Arrington.

She said she has found some voters who were not eligible to vote, including those who are not affiliated with a party.

Osceola County had has the largest percentage of no-party affiliation voters in the state, and according to Florida law, those voters are not allowed to select a presidential candidate who is a Republican or a Democrat.

Some voters said they were not given a ballot for the party with which they are registered.

A voter, who asked only to be identified only as Jennifer, said she voted Democrat, rather than provisional, even though the ballot should have been Republican.

Arrington said she has found some errors made by poll workers.

Cox Media Group