Election Canvassing Board
You may have heard the word "canvassing" lately as it relates to election integrity. The Florida canvass process protects your vote.
The Canvassing Board is a group of local elected officials who oversee important parts of the election. Each election in Florida requires a Canvassing Board for oversight and certification of the electoral process. The official election canvass is conducted in each county pursuant to Florida Statutes and Rules of the Florida Administrative Code.
The duties of the Board can be summarized in three main points:
- To certify the voting equipment correctly counts votes cast for all offices and on all measures
- To verify the accuracy and validity of all votes cast
- To submit the official returns to the Department of State
This ensures that critical decisions about the election are made by a group rather than one single person. The Canvassing Board is its own governing body and is made up of all three branches of government. The Chair leads each Board meeting. In addition to Board meetings, members oversee a variety of activities related to the election.
County Canvassing Board Members
The County Canvassing Board is composed of the Supervisor of Elections, a County Court Judge who shall act as chair, and the chair of the Board of County Commissioners. Members of the Board may not be a candidate in the election being canvassed, and they may not be an active participant in the campaign or candidacy of any candidate.
2026 Membership
The membership of the 2026 Flagler County Canvassing Board will be published here when it becomes available.
2025 Membership
The membership of the 2025 Flagler County Canvassing Board:
- Honorable Andrea Totten, County Judge (Sitting member and Chair)
- Honorable Andy Dance, Flagler County Commissioner (Sitting member)
- Honorable Kaiti Lenhart, Supervisor of Elections (Sitting member)
- Honorable D. Melissa Distler, Flagler County Judge (Alternate member)
- Honorable Pam Richardson, County Commissioner (Alternate member)
2024 Membership
The membership of the 2024 Flagler County Canvassing Board:
- Honorable Andrea Totten, County Judge (Sitting member and Chair)
- Honorable David Sullivan, Flagler County Commissioner (Sitting member)
- Honorable Kaiti Lenhart, Supervisor of Elections (Sitting member)
- Honorable D. Melissa Distler, Flagler County Judge (Alternate member)
- Honorable Donald O'Brien, County Commissioner (Alternate member)
Canvassing Board Meetings
All Canvassing Board meetings are open to the public and you are encouraged to attend!
The Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Office is committed to election integrity. We follow many safeguards to ensure the security of ballots during canvassing board meetings and activities. At least one member of the Canvassing Board oversees any and all canvassing activities.
- Ballots are kept in secured, locked areas when being tabulated.
- The canvassing room is under 24-hour video surveillance.
- All voting equipment is tested prior to use to ensure that it is working properly and accurately recording votes.
- Voting equipment is not connected to the internet. This includes all tabulators and the elections server.
Public Test of Voting Equipment
The voting equipment must be tested publicly using a pre-determined set of results. Each Canvassing Board member verifies the results and must certify to the accuracy of the test.
Canvass of Mail Ballots & Provisional Ballots
The Canvassing Board must account for all mail ballots and provisional ballots. The Board reviews each referred ballot and makes a determination whether to accept or reject the ballot based upon a voter’s eligibility. All ballot envelopes are opened and ballots are tabulated in public view.
Automatic and Machine Recounts
The Canvassing Board orders an automatic recount if the unofficial returns reflect that a local candidate or measure was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office or measure. A machine recount may also be necessary.
Audit of the Voting System
Immediately following the certification of each election, the Canvassing Board is required to audit the election. In Flagler County, we conduct an automated independent audit of all ballots cast in all precincts.
Submission of Election Returns
The Canvassing Board must reconcile and verify received tabulations to transmitted tabulations and submit the returns to the Department of State. Such returns include the canvass and certification of all ballots cast: Election Day precinct, early voting, vote-by-mail, overseas vote-by-mail, write-in votes, and provisional ballots.