With only 34 days until the U.S. presidential election, Tuesday night’s fiery debate between Democratic challenger Joe Biden and President Donald Trump sparked public concerns over correct ballot recording and voting.
The Hillsborough County supervisor of elections, Craig Latimer, spent Wednesday publicly testing the ballot scanners at the Robert L. Gilder Election Service Center.
In a statement, Latimer said, “This is about transparency and integrity. We test every one of our tabulators, and then perform this public test of randomly selected equipment to demonstrate the accuracy of our vote tabulation.”
Trump’s repeated taunts suggesting that the November race will be rigged has raised public concerns about the accuracy of their ballots being counted.
Election equipment in Florida is required to be placed in an accuracy test preceding every election. The process involves sending ballots through random scanners to ensure that they are reading and counting votes accurately.
Once the accuracy tests are complete, the equipment will be sealed and kept under camera surveillance until it is used to process the ballots on Nov. 3.
More tests, fewer masks: COVID-19 restrictions relaxed as more test kits to arrive
Florida will receive millions of new rapid coronavirus tests from the federal government this week.
During a press conference in Clearwater on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis demonstrated how the tests produced results in a matter of minutes.
DeSantis also signed an executive order to remove fines for those in public not wearing a face covering.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is asking businesses to enforce mask requirements on the heels of DeSantis’ announcement that the state will move into Phase 3 of reopening.
Phase 3 allows restaurants and bars to operate at full capacity. Masks and social distancing are to still be enforced by businesses, however, there will no longer be fines administered by the government for those who do not comply.
On Tuesday, Manatee County commissioners voted 4-3 to no longer require face coverings indoors. The board did unanimously agree to urge everyone in the county to continue wearing masks indoors when social distancing isn’t possible.
Not all Manatee residents agreed with the vote.
For the first time, as well, the Florida Department of Health released a report of COVID-19 cases in schools. It is the first list of cases for every school by county.
Bullet train has potential to speed into Tampa, linking South Florida
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies pitched the idea on Friday of bringing a 760 mph connector to Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay leaders said Tampa may be the right place to support the high-speed bullet train. Similar ideas have been rejected by the state for years.
The bullet train would connect Tampa to St. Petersburg, eventually linking to the rest of South Florida.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies said that the 50 person modern locomotive is fuel-efficient and will not release any harmful emissions.
Chris Jadick, director of communications from the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, said he’s not sure when the decision will be made, but he is optimistic about a bullet train in Tampa Bay’s future.
Hillsborough County school social media translate to bilingual
Hillsborough school district officials have introduced new social media accounts for Spanish-speaking families.
Hillsborough Schools en Español launched on Facebook and Twitter this week.
The social media accounts will post translated newsletters and live streams.
The initiative is estimated to help over 80,000 students who identify as Hispanic in the Hillsborough County school system.
CREDITS
Anchors: Cheyenne Pagan, Trevor Lloyd
Reporters: Deanna Lampasona, James Birmingham
Producer: Niamh Larkin
Writers: Garrett Shifflet, Ashley Reyes
Graphics Editors: Calista Muncy, Demi Asensio
Video Editors: Tobias Sonne, Ashley Reyes
Show Editor: Vanessa Gallupo
Associate Producer: Emmanuel Maduneme
Web Editor/Social Media Producer: Niamh Larkin
Graduate Assistant: Emmanuel Maduneme
Faculty Adviser: Jeanette Abrahamsen, Wayne Garcia
