David Fugett, left, vice president and general counsel at Florida Polytechnic University, moderates a panel discussion about election security hosted by the Office of Public Policy Events at the University on Tuesday, Sept. 17. From left, panelists are Orlando Senator-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith; Brad Ashwell, state director of All Voting is Local; Alan Hays, Lake County Supervisor of Elections; and Zephyrhills Senator Danny Burgess.
With the Nov. 5 election just seven weeks away, Florida Polytechnic University highlighted election security issues at its Guardians of Democracy panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon at its Barnett Applied Research Center. The event, hosted by Florida Poly’s Office of Public Policy Events, brought together a bipartisan group of experts to discuss challenges and solutions in election security.
On the panel were Orlando Senator-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith; Brad Ashwell, state director of All Voting is Local; Alan Hays, Lake County Supervisor of Elections; and Zephyrhills Senator Danny Burgess, who has been chair of the Senate’s Committee on Ethics and Elections for the last two years.
Over 100 visitors, students, and employees gathered to listen to their insight and ask questions about election security.
“This exercise is designed to offer a platform for varied perspectives – not to change our views, but to broaden and enrich them,” said David Fugett, Florida Poly’s vice president and general counsel, who moderated the event.
Each panelist started by sharing concerns they had about election security, including artificial intelligence and the impact of disinformation, a decline in public trust leading to increases in vote certification challenges, the spread of election-related lies, and the delay in some states’ reporting of full election results.
Among the issues the panelists discussed were balancing election security with voter accessibility, lessons learned from the 2000 Bush vs. Gore presidential election, recent changes to the Florida election system, and possible changes that could improve the current system. Several viewpoints were in contradiction to those of other panelists.
“It’s important for students to see how someone can feel another way and we can have a point-counterpoint discussion,” Burgess said. “Hopefully that in itself can raise faith in our system.”
Tuesday’s event coincided with National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day. Representatives from the League of Women Voters and the office of the Polk County Supervisor of Elections provided information and voter registration materials to students and others on campus while Florida Poly representatives distributed copies of the U.S. Constitution.
“If you’re eligible, there’s no good reason not to be registered in Florida,” Hays said. “If you are registered, the wise thing to do if you don’t plan to vote by mail is change your address to where you’re living now or go back home to vote.”
Floridians must register by Oct. 7 to vote in the November election.
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