Broward Check-In Glitch Delays Election Day Voting; Elections Chief Says It Was Fixed by 7:20 a.m.

A check-in system problem delayed voting at several polling places in Broward County, Florida, shortly after polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Election Day, before election officials said it had been fixed.

The problem involved a barcode-scanning system designed to make sure voters in precincts affected by redistricting receive the correct ballot, Florida's Voice reported. The system incorrectly flagged some ballots as incorrect, blocking check-in at multiple sites until technicians resolved it, the outlet reported. WSVN reported that the county described a systemwide issue that affected polling sites for between 10 and 15 minutes.

Update (Nov. 3, 2026): In a written statement provided to The Digital Free Press by his office, Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said a technical issue caused delays for some voters when polls opened at 7 a.m. and was resolved "within 20 minutes of polls opening." He said the issue "did not affect any votes cast" and involved a feature that lets poll workers electronically confirm the correct ballot for each voter, which the office implemented as an additional safeguard because of recent redistricting. Scott said the office used the same feature "successfully during the primary election in August without any problems" and that poll workers are also trained to manually verify that voters receive the correct ballots. He apologized to voters who had to wait, saying, "I know some of you had to leave before you could cast your ballot," and urged anyone who left without voting to return to their assigned polling place before polls close at 7 p.m.

What Broward's Elections Supervisor Said

Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott said the glitch was fixed by about 7:20 a.m. "Nobody voted on the wrong ballot," Scott said at a morning news briefing, according to Florida's Voice, citing a Miami Herald report. He said no votes already cast were affected.

Scott said some voters who arrived early left without voting because of the delays, and that it was unclear how many. He urged them to return to their assigned polling places before polls close at 7 p.m. Voters in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, according to the Supervisor of Elections' website, and Election Day voters must vote at their assigned precinct.

What Voters Saw at Broward Polling Places

Local 10 News reported problems at locations including Sunset Lakes Community Center in Miramar, Coconut Palm Elementary School and South Plantation High School. At Sunset Lakes, voters began lining up as early as 6:15 a.m., with dozens waiting outside before the doors opened, the station reported.

One voter told the station that poll workers announced they were having technical difficulties and could not access the registration system. "They have problems, electronic problems, and they can't log into the system," the voter said, adding that technicians were working on it.

RNC Observers and Other Reaction

At 7:40 a.m., Lauren Cooley, who describes herself on X as a senior fellow at the Institute for Faith & Culture, posted that Broward County was "having county-wide 'ballot scanning' issues, I'm told," and that voters were "being turned away this morning from multiple precincts." She called it "Unacceptable."

At 9:51 a.m., the Republican National Committee's election integrity account, @RNCVoteProtect, posted: "The issue causing delays is FIXED. EVERY VOTER WILL GET A BALLOT. EVERY VOTE WILL COUNT. Precincts are manually ensuring voters are able to cast their proper ballots." The account said RNC observers were on the ground and in contact with the Supervisor of Elections.

Flooding Moves Two Broward Polling Places

Separately, the Supervisor of Elections' office said severe flooding forced it to move the polling place for Precinct T018 from Paradise Village Clubhouse, 12850 W. State Road 84 in Davie, to Precinct T013 at Tree Tops Park, 3900 SW 100th Ave. in Davie. The office also moved the polling place for Precinct E010 in Coral Springs from the Mullins Park-Sartory Senior Center to Mullins Hall, 10170 NW 29th St. Florida's Voice reported that the Coral Springs move was also because of flooding.

County officials said they were expecting a large turnout, with more than 450,000 voters having already cast ballots and about 225,000 more expected at the polls Tuesday, WSVN reported.

The Broward County Supervisor of Elections' office responded to The Digital Free Press's request for comment with Supervisor Joe Scott's written statement, quoted above.

Seeing election problems at your polling place? Contact The Digital Free Press at tips@thedigitalfreepress.com.

Sources: Local 10 News (WPLG), "Brief technical issues delay voting at several Broward County polling locations," Nov. 3, 2026 (https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/11/03/technical-issues-delay-voting-at-several-broward-county-polling-locations/); Florida's Voice, "Technical issues briefly delay voting at several Broward County polling locations," Nov. 3, 2026 (https://flvoicenews.com/technical-issues-briefly-delay-voting-at-several-broward-county-polling-locations/); WSVN 7News, "Polls open across South Florida on midterm Election Day," Nov. 3, 2026 (https://wsvn.com/news/politics/south-florida-polls-open-tuesday/); Broward County Supervisor of Elections, announcements (https://browardvotes.gov/) and precinct change notices for Precinct T018 (https://browardvotes.gov/sites/default/files/attention-voters-precinct-change-t018-to-t013.pdf) and Precinct E010 (https://browardvotes.gov/sites/default/files/polling-place-change-e010.pdf); @RNCVoteProtect on X, Nov. 3, 2026 (https://x.com/RNCVoteProtect/status/2117630707878998525); Lauren Cooley on X, Nov. 3, 2026 (https://x.com/laurenacooley/status/2117597691232358880); Broward County Supervisor of Elections, statement of Supervisor Joe Scott on morning voting delays and polling place changes, Nov. 3, 2026 (https://browardvotes.gov/sites/default/files/joe-scott-ed-statement_1.pdf). Cover photo: "Polling Place - Vote Here" by Mrs. Gemstone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; file image, not taken in Broward County.