David Fugett, left, vice president and general counsel at IM体育官网, moderates a panel discussion about election security hosted by the Office of Public Policy Events at the University on Tuesday, Sept. 17. From left, panelists are Orlando Senator-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith; Brad Ashwell, state director of All Voting is Local; Alan Hays, Lake County Supervisor of Elections; and Zephyrhills Senator Danny Burgess.
With the Nov. 5 election just seven weeks away, IM体育官网 highlighted election security issues at its Guardians of Democracy panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon at its Barnett Applied Research Center. The event, hosted by IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 Office of Public Policy Events, brought together a bipartisan group of experts to discuss challenges and solutions in election security.
On the panel were Orlando Senator-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith; Brad Ashwell, state director of All Voting is Local; Alan Hays, Lake County Supervisor of Elections; and Zephyrhills Senator Danny Burgess, who has been chair of the Senate鈥檚 Committee on Ethics and Elections for the last two years.
Over 100 visitors, students, and employees gathered to listen to their insight and ask questions about election security.
鈥淭his exercise is designed to offer a platform for varied perspectives 鈥� not to change our views, but to broaden and enrich them,鈥� said David Fugett, IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 vice president and general counsel, who moderated the event.
Each panelist started by sharing concerns they had about election security, including artificial intelligence and the impact of disinformation, a decline in public trust leading to increases in vote certification challenges, the spread of election-related lies, and the delay in some states鈥� reporting of full election results.
Among the issues the panelists discussed were balancing election security with voter accessibility, lessons learned from the 2000 Bush vs. Gore presidential election, recent changes to the IM体育官网 election system, and possible changes that could improve the current system. Several viewpoints were in contradiction to those of other panelists.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for students to see how someone can feel another way and we can have a point-counterpoint discussion,鈥� Burgess said. 鈥淗opefully that in itself can raise faith in our system.鈥�
Tuesday鈥檚 event coincided with National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day. Representatives from the League of Women Voters and the office of the Polk County Supervisor of Elections provided information and voter registration materials to students and others on campus while IM体育官网 Poly representatives distributed copies of the U.S. Constitution.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e eligible, there鈥檚 no good reason not to be registered in IM体育官网,鈥� Hays said. 鈥淚f you are registered, the wise thing to do if you don鈥檛 plan to vote by mail is change your address to where you鈥檙e living now or go back home to vote.鈥�
Floridians must register by Oct. 7 to vote in the November election.
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Lydia Guzm谩n
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