Palm Beach County Voters Told to Use a Stylus After Ballot-Marking Video Draws Questions

Palm Beach County voters should use a stylus pen on voting machine touchscreens to avoid unintended selections, the county's supervisor of elections said after a social media video alleged a voter could not properly select a candidate, Reuters Fact Check reported Oct. 30. The clip shows a voter tapping with a finger the name of James Martin, the Democratic candidate in Florida's 21st Congressional District, while the name of Republican Brian Mast is highlighted instead; when the voter uses a stylus to tap Martin's name, his name is correctly selected, Reuters reported. Martin posted the video on X on Oct. 28, and the original video was posted Oct. 28 by an Instagram user who said she recorded it that day while voting at the Jupiter Community Center in Palm Beach County.

Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link replied to Martin's post on Oct. 28, saying voters are instructed to use a stylus because using a finger can result in an unintended candidate selection, and that the video shows the stylus correctly registering the voter's intended choice, Reuters reported. Link also said ExpressVote is a ballot-marking device, not a vote tabulator, and that voters have three opportunities to verify their choices and can request a replacement ballot or a paper ballot. Election Systems & Software, which makes the ExpressVote machines, told Reuters the voter in the video was touching the line between two candidates and that voters in Palm Beach County are provided with a stylus to prevent false touches.

Link told local television station WPTV that ExpressVote machines have no setting that defaults voters to a particular candidate, Reuters reported, and her office said it had received few direct reports, was checking machine calibration and would test or replace a machine if staff could replicate the issue. In an Oct. 30 email to Reuters, the supervisor's office said: "During this election, we received some reports from voters regarding touchscreen sensitivity. Each report is reviewed and all voters who have reported a concern regarding touchscreen sensitivity have been able to cast a ballot reflecting their intended selections." Reuters rated the viral claim as missing context, noting voters can use a stylus and verify their selections before their ballot is counted.