Election Hacking Request to All Florida Counties
Counties
Alachua: no records
Baker: “We received no such notifications in any form.”
Bay
Bradford: no records (“There have been no notifications from any law enforcement agency that would indicate that Bradford was hacked.”)
Brevard: “We are in receipt of your public records request and no public record exists for the records you are requesting.”
Broward: currently searching their email system
Calhoun: “Our office has no available records responsive to this request.”
Charlotte
Citrus: no records (“In answer to your public records request, Citrus County has never been notified of an intrusion into our system by any of the agencies named in your request or any other unnamed entity.”)
Clay: no records
Collier: no records (“Collier County’s systems for elections, voting, and networks were not compromised or accessed by hackers in 2016; therefore, there are no records or relating correspondences that exist on that matter.”)
Columbia: see letter at bottom of page
DeSoto
Dixie: “No. Per your public records request we have not received any notifications.”
Duval
Escambia: “We have no responsive documents.”
Franklin: no records (“We have not received any communication from any entity regarding any type of compromise to any of our systems.”)
Gadsden
Gilchrist: “Gilchrist County was not contacted by the FBI, Department of Justice, Homeland Security or any other Federal entities.”
Glades: no records (“Glades County has never been notified by the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, or any other federal, state or local entities that we have been compromised.”)
Gulf: no records
Hamilton: “Hamilton County, FL SOE [Supervisor of Elections] office has not been notified by anyone that any portion(s) of your county’s systems for elections, voting, and related matters was compromised or accessed by hackers in 2016.”
Hardee
Hendry: “In response to your request, there are no such records via written or oral as to our system being compromised or accessed.”
Hernando
Highlands
Hillsborough: “There are no records responsive to your request.”
Holmes
Indian River: no records
Jackson: “Jackson County Supervisor of Elections office has not receive any notification from any source that our computers had been compromised at any time.”
Jefferson
Lafayette: no records (“We do not have any such communications as our systems were not compromised. Our office did not receive the phishing email.”)
Lake, part 1: “Since I took office on January 3, 2017, I wasn’t in this office in 2016. Therefore, I have no firsthand information of such activities referenced in your request. I have inquired of those on my staff who were here at that time and they have no recollection themselves. I am forwarding this to our County Attorney and perhaps she may have those records you request if they ever existed.” –D. Alan Hays, D.M.D, MFCEP, Supervisor of Elections
Lake, part 2: “An initial search for this information returned over 40,000 possible emails, which would be charged at $10.00 per hour to review for exempt and/or confidential information. To better assist with responding to this request, please provide the email addresses, or the email domains for the agencies listed in your request. Also, if more you are able to provide specific details as to the records you are seeking, that would be helpful to aid the search. Please note that any deposit that may be required is due prior to any review being done.”
Lee: no records (“The Lee County Supervisor of Elections has not been notified by any means (email, phone or in person) by any local, state or federal agency that either our voter registration or our tabulation networks have been compromised at any time.”)
Leon: see email at bottom of page
Levy: “My office does not have any public records that relate to hacking of Levy County’s system in 2016.”
Liberty
Madison: “Per Supervisor Hardee, please see the below email. We agree with Leon County statement.” Attached is the email that Leon County sent me, declaring that the documents are too dangerous to release (see first email at the bottom of this page).
Manatee: no records
Marion: no records
Martin: see letter at bottom of page
Miami-Dade: “We have not located any responsive documents to this request. Were such documents to exist, however, they would be exempt from disclosure as a public record pursuant to Florida Statutes § 119.071(2)(c); 119.071(2)(d); 119.071(3); 282.318(4); and 281.301.”
Monroe: “Nothing to report”
Nassau: originally sent canned response (see email at bottom of this page). A producer for The Rachel Maddow Show then asked for further information/comment. I then received a follow-up email: “After consulting with County Attorney Mullin, this will confirm that we have no records responsive to your request.”
Okaloosa: no records
Okeechobee: “No such record(s) exist relating to your public records request.”
Orange: “Our office received no such notification. Therefore, there are no documents responsive to your request.”
Osceola: “We have received no indication of any kind from any state or federal agency that any such interference with our election has occurred or is even suspected. We have no responsive documents to this request.”
Palm Beach
Pasco: no records
Pinellas: no records (“Additionally, there is no indication any of our systems have ever been penetrated.”)
Polk: no records (“We have no notifications from any federal, state or local agencies that any of our voting systems were compromised by hackers in 2016. We have no notification from any private company or individual that any of our voting systems were compromised by hackers in 2016.”)
Putnam: “As of this response, we have not received any notification or correspondence from the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, or any other federal entities concerning Putnam Counties 2016 elections, voting or other related matters pertaining to being compromised or accessed by hackers. I hope this is helpful to your public records request.”
Santa Rosa: originally sent canned response (see email at bottom of this page). A producer for The Rachel Maddow Show then asked for further information/comment. I then received a follow-up email: “As a follow up to the response sent to Mr. Kick, Santa Rosa County has received no such notification. Therefore, there are no documents responsive to your request”
Sarasota: no records
Seminole: “After reviewing our communication records, the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office did not receive any such correspondence as our system was not compromised in any way.”
St. Johns
St. Lucie
Sumter: see email at bottom of the page
Suwannee
Taylor: “Taylor County has received no notifications from any agency pertaining to your public records request.”
Union
Volusia
Wakulla: “Good afternoon, after scanning the system for the records requested, we located NO emails for those requested. The outcome I expected but now we know. If we can be of further assistance contact the office and have a great day.”
Walton: “None know of, no communications.”
Washington County: see email at bottom of page
(According to two anonymous officials, Washington is one of the two counties that were hacked.)
On May 14, 2019, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said during a press conference that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security recently told him that two counties had been hacked in 2016.
Specifically, “two Florida counties experienced intrusion into the Supervisor of Election networks,” although DeSantis says that the election was not interfered with, no vote counts could’ve been changed, etc. He said that the FBI and DHS told him that the hackers were “affiliated” with Russia. (You can watch the press conference here.)
The kicker is that DeSantis had to sign a nondisclosure agreement — apparently with the FBI and/or DHS — before they would tell him this. He’s specifically gagged from telling us which counties were affected.
To hopefully get to the bottom of this, I filed public-records requests with the Supervisor of Elections in each of Florida’s 67 counties.
This page will show the results of the requests as they come in.
Here’s the request that I sent to each elections supervisor’s office:
Dear Public Records Officer:
This is a request under the Florida Sunshine / Public Records Law.
THE REQUESTS
OTHER INFORMATION
The time frame for this request is January 1, 2016, to the present.
I would like to receive these documents via email.
This request is for non-commercial purposes. If there will be a fee associated with this request, please notify me in advance.
Thank you for your help.
Russ Kick