Harvard report signals election confusion in Miami-Dade during midterms

Some Miami-Dade voters are facing election-year hurdles — from conflicting registration info to misleading calls or texts — at a greater rate than the rest of Florida and the U.S., according to a new survey of voters.

Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy conducted a nationwide survey during this year's midterm election cycle to find out what issues, if any, voters are facing before and during their time at the ballot box. The survey focused on six possible issues:

1. Registration challenge notices
2. Conflicting registration information
3. Being discouraged from registering
4. Intimidation or harassment
5. Misleading calls or texts
6. Trouble with a voting task

Out of 164 people surveyed in Miami-Dade County, one-third reported experiencing at least one of these problems, compared with about a quarter of respondents nationally. While the report is not an estimate of trends countywide, it's meant to act as a signal for election officials and voters to be mindful before election day.

"What this survey makes clear is that people can experience the election very differently from one community to the next," said Allison Wan, senior data scientist at the Shorenstein Center. "Our goal is to provide a more systematic, data-informed picture of those local signals so that election officials, journalists, and voters know where it may be worth looking more closely."

Harvard Shorenstein Center

The most prevalent issues reported among Miami-Dade respondents were misleading calls or texts about the election (19%) and trouble with a voting task (17%). Voting tasks include updating voter registration, checking voter registration and requesting a vote-by-mail ballot.

A spokesperson for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia' said their office has extended its hours to address any election-related issues voters may have during early voting.

"We have an extremely knowledgeable staff with many helpful team members, and all info is available on our website and through our Sample Ballot," the spokesperson said. "Midterm elections and all the campaign pushes naturally cause some voter confusion and apprehension but we have been very clear and timely in all our messaging."

The Federal Communications Commission maintains a "Do Not Call" registry for people to opt out of receiving most robocalls, including misleading election calls.

Early voting is underway in Miami-Dade County through Sunday, Nov. 1.