Once you vote, where does your ballot go?
It’s a part of the election process most voters never see.
With Florida’s primary election on August 18 and general election on November 3, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link’s office recently opened its doors to demonstrate to the public the many steps used to track, verify, and secure each vote.
Palm Beach County residents were given the opportunity to tour the Supervisor of Elections building at 4301 Cherry Road in West Palm Beach. The office hosted 15 guided tours throughout June, each ranging from 20 to 40 guests. From students to retirees, people of all ages participated.
“I wanted people to leave with the understanding that there’s a lot of security that is built into our processes,” Link recently told the Palm Beach Civic Association.
Link is a lifelong Palm Beach County resident with more than three decades of experience as an attorney. Appointed county elections supervisor by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2019, she was elected to the post in 2020 and re-elected in 2024.
Link administers elections in a county with nearly one million registered voters.
She presides over an office with 85 full-time, year-round employees in various departments including information technology, cybersecurity, communications, voter services, security, and more. The number of workers swells to more than 200 during election periods. The voting locations require an additional 5,000 poll workers, all of whom must be trained prior to each election.
At the elections office, every ballot follows a carefully documented path before it is counted, Link said. During a recent visit, workers inside the sorting room could be observed preparing vote-by-mail ballots.
By law, those ballots must be mailed within two business days after a voter makes a request. Every signature on a vote-by-mail ballot is verified by technology and trained election staff.
“We are going to confirm that that is a ballot we sent to you for this election by checking the bar code on that envelope,” Link said. “We are also going to ‘signature match’ to make sure that is you who signed that. We are going to make sure you haven’t already voted, either in person, at early voting, or on election day, or that you didn’t already vote a previously mailed-to-you, vote-by-mail ballot.”
Link said the guided tours enabled people to see the elections building and know it is open to them during the canvass, a post-election process when the county canvassing board aggregates and confirms that all valid ballots cast in the election are accurately counted and included in the final election results.
“Whenever we are canvassing, [the public] can look [on votepalmbeach.gov] at the canvassing schedule, so when we are counting ballots, that is open for them to come and see,” she said.
On votepalmbeach.gov, hover over the “elections” tab and look underneath for “canvassing board” and “canvassing schedule.”
Early voting
Early voting begins on Saturday, August 8, and lasts through Sunday, August 16, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Voters can cast their ballots at any of Palm Beach County’s 28 early-voting locations from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Closest to Palm Beach is the Gaines Park Community Center, at 1501 Australian Ave., which is 3.6 miles from Midtown Palm Beach.
Link recommended that voters consider making an appointment – a designated 15-minute time slot – for early voting. Appointments are made by visiting votepalmbeach.gov. Hover over the “voters” tab, then drop down to “ways to vote” and click underneath on “early voting.” From there, click on “book your appointment.”
Vote by mail
Thursday, August 6, at 5 p.m., is the deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot. Hover over the “elections” tab, then scroll down and click “vote by mail.” On the left side of the screen, click “request vote by mail.”
Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail; dropped off at any early voting location during early voting hours; or dropped off at any Supervisor of Elections office during office hours. Secure ballot intake stations also will be available outside the Supervisor of Elections’ four offices. Ballots cannot be dropped off on Election Day at any polling place.
Election Day
On Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Palm Beach voters will cast ballots at three polling locations: St. Edward Basilica Parish Hall at 165 N. County Road; the Mandel Recreation Center at 340 Seaview Ave.; and the South Fire-Rescue Station at 2185 S. Ocean Blvd.
Voters must bring at least one valid form of identification that includes their photo and signature. Acceptable forms of identification include a Florida driver’s license, Florida identification card, U.S. passport, student ID, military ID or government-issued employee ID.
Voter information cards are not an acceptable form of identification, Link said.
Palm Beach TV: Palm Beach County Voting Transparency
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Voter Dashboard
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