Brevard Election Integrity: Who Counts Your Ballot and How You Can Watch

Brevard election integrity starts with three people in a public room. Here's who sits on the 2026 canvassing board and the dates you can watch them work.

As the Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida, one question I hear more than almost any other is simple: who actually counts the votes, and can I see it happen? The answer is better than most people think. In Florida, the count is run by a three-member board that meets in public, under rules written into state law, and you're allowed to walk in and watch.

For how the voter rolls are kept clean, see Brevard Voter Roll Maintenance. This post is about the people and the process, and how you can keep an eye on both.

Who counts your ballot: the Brevard canvassing board

Under s. 102.141, F.S., every Florida county has a canvassing board made up of three people: the Supervisor of Elections, a county court judge who serves as chair, and the chair of the Board of County Commissioners. A member who is a candidate with opposition in the election, or who is an active participant in the campaign of a candidate with opposition, must be replaced. The law also requires at least two alternates, and every member and alternate must wear a name badge while the board is canvassing (s. 102.141).

For the 2026 General Election, the Brevard Supervisor of Elections lists these members (SOE canvassing board notice, updated Oct. 22, 2026):

• Chairman: The Honorable Kelly Ingram (alternate: The Honorable Clarissa Harrell)
• Member: County Commissioner Tom Goodson, serving in the County Commission's seat (when the commission chair can't serve, state law has the commission appoint another commissioner; s. 102.141(1)(c)) (alternates: chiefs of staff named in the notice)
• Member: Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic

What the board does:

• Reviews mail ballots. The Supervisor's office, and the canvassing board where needed, compares the signature on each mail-ballot envelope (or cure affidavit) with the voter's signature on file. A mail ballot counts only if the signature matches, or if a cure affidavit comes with valid identification as the law requires (s. 101.68).
• Rules on provisional ballots (s. 101.048).
• Canvasses the returns and certifies the results. The board may not change the number of votes a polling place's returns show for any candidate or measure. If a precinct's returns are missing or have an obvious error, the board must order that precinct retabulated, and if the returns and the ballots disagree, the tabulation of the ballots is presumed correct (s. 102.141(3)).

How Brevard election integrity is protected before the count

The tabulating equipment is tested in public before early voting starts. State law requires that public test no more than 25 days before early voting begins, with at least 48 hours' public notice. The canvassing board must certify the accuracy of the test (each member, or one member the board designates), and each political party may designate one person with computer expertise to be in the central counting room during the tests and while votes are counted (s. 101.5612). Brevard's Logic & Accuracy test for 2026 was held Friday, Oct. 2, at 9 a.m. (SOE notice).

According to the Supervisor of Elections' Election Integrity page:

• Brevard votes on paper ballots, counted by ES&S DS300 tabulators at early voting sites and polling places and by DS950 central-count scanners for mail ballots.
• The tabulation system runs on a closed network.
• Once a voter checks in, or a mail ballot is accepted, that voting record is locked, so the same voter can't cast a second ballot.
• At the polls, voters must show photo and signature ID; a voter who can't is offered a provisional ballot.

How you can watch: the canvassing board's 2026 meetings

Every canvassing board meeting is held at the Election Support Center, 525 N. John Rodes Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32934, and the SOE notice says the meetings "are open to the public, political parties, candidates, and press." The remaining meetings (SOE notice):

Date	Time	What happens
Tue., Oct. 27	9:00 a.m.	Review of mail ballots
Mon., Nov. 2	3:00 p.m.	Review of mail ballots
Tue., Nov. 3 (Election Night)	7:45 p.m.	Canvass Election Day returns (unofficial results) and review mail ballots
Fri., Nov. 6	1:00 p.m.	Review mail and provisional ballots; certify first unofficial results (if no recount)
Tue.-Thu., Nov. 10-12	9:00 a.m.	Recount, only if one is required
Fri., Nov. 13	2:00 p.m.	Review the 10-day count of overseas mail ballots and certify the results
Tue., Nov. 17	9:00 a.m.	Post-election audit (Thu., Nov. 19, if there was a recount)

The board can convene at other times or cancel a meeting, so check the notice before you go. If you need a disability accommodation, the notice asks for 48 hours' advance notice.

Two rights worth knowing when you're in the room:

• During each canvassing board meeting, each political party and each candidate may have one watcher who can view, directly or on a screen, the ballots being examined for signature matching (s. 102.141(2)(a)).
• Any voter or candidate who is present and believes a mail ballot is illegal because of a defect apparent on the voter's certificate or cure affidavit may file a protest with the board, but only before the ballot is removed from its envelope (s. 101.68).

Poll watchers: the rules (and the 2026 deadlines have passed)

Florida lets each political party and each candidate have one poll watcher in each polling room or early voting area at a time (a committee for or against a ballot measure may too). Watchers must be registered voters of the county. Candidates and law enforcement officers can't serve. Watchers are designated in writing by a party's county chair, a political committee's chair or the candidate (s. 101.131).

The deadlines are set by law: early voting watchers had to be designated at least 14 days before early voting began, and Election Day watchers by noon on the second Tuesday before the election, which this year was Oct. 20 (s. 101.131(2)). So for 2026, designations are closed. If you want to serve in a future election, start early.

Once inside, the SOE's Poll Watcher Requirements spell out the limits: watchers may observe but may not interact directly with voters, may not walk freely through the site, must bring their own supplies (chairs included), can't wear anything supporting a party, candidate or issue, and take every question or concern to the precinct clerk. Cameras aren't allowed in the polling room or early voting site.

Watch your own ballot

You don't need a badge to watch the ballot that matters most to you:

• Track it. Mail voters can follow their ballot at Check My Mail Ballot Status. It must be received by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 (How to Return Your Voted Mail Ballot).
• Fix a signature problem. If you forgot to sign, or your signature doesn't match, the SOE must try to reach you by email, text or phone, and also by first-class mail (mail notices stop the day before the election) (s. 101.68). You can fix it with a cure affidavit and a copy of your ID. The deadline for 2026 is Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5 p.m. (SOE cure instructions).
• Update your signature. Your signature changes over time. Keeping it current on your registration is the easiest way to avoid a problem.

When a race is close: automatic recounts

If the unofficial returns show a race or measure decided by one-half of a percent or less, a machine recount is ordered (a defeated candidate can ask in writing that it not be made) (s. 102.141(7)). If the margin after that is one-quarter of a percent or less, a manual recount of overvotes and undervotes follows (s. 102.166). That's why the schedule above holds Nov. 10-12 open.

My view: watching beats worrying

In my personal view, the best answer to doubts about an election is more citizens in the room. Brevard's canvassing board meets in public, on a posted schedule, under rules anyone can read. If you have questions about how your vote is counted, go see it for yourself on Oct. 27 or Nov. 2, and bring a friend.

The strongest case against my view: observers who don't know the rules can slow the work, crowd the election staff who are trying to finish on deadline, and make honest workers feel like suspects. Some will also say that audits and recount laws, not crowds, are what make results trustworthy. Those are fair points. That's exactly why Florida limits who can stand where and requires questions to go through the clerk. My answer is to learn the rules first, follow them, and treat the people doing the counting with respect. Watching and respect go together.

Questions about how voting works in Brevard? Start with my FAQs. My personal take on the Nov. 3 ballot (no recommendations in judicial races) is in my Voter Guide, and more local explainers are on the blog.

Opinions in this post are my personal view as Josiah Gattle, Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida. They are not a statement by any party organization.

LET'S WIN TOGETHER!

Sources: Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, Notice of 2026 General Election Canvassing Board Schedule (updated Oct. 22, 2026), Canvassing Board, Election Integrity, Poll Watcher Requirements, How to Return Your Voted Mail Ballot, Check My Mail Ballot Status and Mail Ballot Signature Cure Affidavit pages (votebrevard.gov); Fla. Stat. ss. 101.048, 101.131, 101.5612, 101.68, 102.141 and 102.166 (2026). Checked October 23, 2026.

Political advertisement paid for and approved by Josiah Gattle for Brevard Republican State Committeeman.