Democracy in Action

Once upon a time, while elections were contested, the election process itself was not controversial. It was largely taken for granted that votes would be accurately counted and correctly award elected office to the candidate who earned the most votes.  

In the last decade, that consensus has been turned on its head nationally, with accusations of voter suppression, widespread voter fraud, and vote tampering casting a cloud on elections. All the controversy has thrown a spotlight on election operations. 

In Collier County, the “point man” for ensuring elections are accurate and secure is a woman, Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier. She was appointed to the post by Governor Ron DeSantis when her predecessor, Jennifer Edwards, stepped down, and won the job again in the 2024 election cycle.  

“In our world, the election is tomorrow,” said Blazier, while giving a reporter a tour of the county’s election facilities, highlighting how much advance preparation is needed to ensure a smooth election day process. “Nobody thinks about the election until the day before, but we are working full-time to be ready.”  

Although the general election in 2026 will not have a presidential race at the top of the ticket, interest is expected to be high. Races to be decided include Florida’s open governorship, all Congressional seats, and Marco Island city council races.  

One big change in the upcoming election cycle relates to vote-by-mail, what used to be called absentee ballots.  

“Prior to 2024, a vote-by-mail request was good for two election cycles,” said Blazier. Now, due to a new Florida state law, “we had to wipe out all standing requests and start from scratch.” So, if you previously voted by mail and intend to do the same this time, you have to contact the Supervisor of Elections office and make a new request.  

For those who were previously registered, the process can be completed online, without having to go to the elections office or provide any new identification or other information. Vote-by-mail ballots cannot be forwarded by the post office, so it is important to list the address where you will actually beresiding when the ballots are mailed out ahead of the election.  

“We have to know where you’ll be, or the ballots will bounce right back to us,” said Blazier.  

“The legislature made the change – we’re just administering it,” said Blazier. This is a theme she expressed time after time, reflecting how the county-level supervisors of elections are constrained and directed by a host of laws and regulations, and perform their tasks within strict guidelines.  

“Regulations govern everything we do. We’re given a guidebook by the Department of State,” she said. “We have to follow Florida election law.”  

This election cycle, the elections office is deploying all new ballot machines for in-person voting. At a cost of $1.7 million, the supervisor replaced all of the county’s DS 200 optical scanners, which had been in place since 2007, with upgraded DS 300 equipment. The high-speed scanners at the supervisor’s headquarters are also new. In all, the supervisor of elections office has an annual budget of $5.2 million, from the county’s general fund, and a full-time staff of 24. At election time, the staff numbers balloon due to an influx of hundreds of temporary (paid) election workers.  

On one point, Blazier was adamant: elections have been fairly and properly decided.  

“Absolutely, they were decided fairly,” she said, including the 2020 presidential election, and particularly in this state and this county. “The governor said Florida conducts gold standard elections,” and “we’ve been one of the leaders (in Collier County) for a lot of years.”  

She is confident, she said, that the vote results her department reports will be accurate and untainted.  

“To begin with, our voting system software is a closed system, air-gapped, and not connected to the internet,” she said. The proprietary software the elections run on had to be approved by the Florida Division of Elections. In Florida, each county maintains its own voting system, and “in Collier County, we program our own elections.”  

No one could tamper with the vote-counting computers without physically accessing them. That would be difficult to do undetected. The tabulation room at the Supervisor of Elections three-story office is off limits to all except for information technology employees, Blazier, and her chief deputy. Given a tour recently, a reporter was allowed to peer in, but not to walk in.  

Actual ballots are treated with extreme care as well. While the elections office scans them electronically, paper ballots are kept as a backup. A “chain of custody” is maintained, with the ballots kept in locked, sealed receptacles, and everyone who handles required to sign off on proper handling.  

Blazier and her staff conduct voter outreach to encourage registration and educate the public about voting through a variety of outlets. Even over a year ahead of the next election, the department’s website lists 14 separate outreach events, from libraries, the tax collector’s office, the DMV, and even the Naples Zoo.  

“I’ve got a ton of speaking engagements lined up,” said Blazier. “2026 is going to be a pretty big election for us, with our state senator term-limited, and a new governor.” She records monthly video chats, which are on the supervisor’s website, along with “Myth-Busting Mondays,” online posts correcting common misconceptions about voting. 

In addition to the Supervisor of Election’s efforts, the two major political parties are also conducting educational efforts. Kathi Meo, treasurer of the Collier County Republican Executive Committee, or Collier GOP, said her group is “ramping up a whole voter contact committee. We’re doing a lot of phone banking and door-knocking. We’re getting the word out. We’re just getting ramped up. Obviously, not many candidates have declared yet – but we don’t want to let the Dems know all our secrets.”  

Katie McNutt, chair of voter registration for the Collier County Democratic Party, or Collier Dems, feels a sense of urgency heading into the election cycle.  

“With every week that goes by, vulnerable voters are more at risk,” she said. “We are telling people, in Spanish and Creole as well as in English, if you vote by mail, you don’t have to go to the polling place with scary police. Every week, ICE gets scarier.” It is sad, she said, that US citizens, registered voters, would need to feel such concerns. 

McNutt also expects to be able to convert “a lot of disillusioned Republicans. We’re working hard to go after votes we couldn’t get before.” Speaking of Donald Trump, she said, “look what he’s doing with Epstein.” She expects efforts to pick up once the heat of summer fades.  

“We’ve had some close elections in Collier County. In 2024, the mayoral election in Naples was initially decided by just 12 votes,” said Blazier. “Every vote counts.” 

For more information on elections and voting, go to the Supervisor of Elections website at www.colliervotes.gov.