Open government

Orange County, Florida election officials held public logic and accuracy testing on voting machines less than a month before Election Day, part of a process required by state law before every election. Workers ran sample ballots through randomly selected machines to confirm they function properly and tally votes correctly, with members of the public invited to observe.

Karen Castor Dentel, Orange County Supervisor of Elections, said the exercise supports transparency and public trust in election integrity. Resident Patti Strandberg, who has volunteered in multiple roles throughout the election process, said watching the testing firsthand offered reassurance and encouraged others with concerns to attend future public viewings.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting runs from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1, and voters seeking mail ballots must request them by Oct. 22. The testing comes amid ongoing national attention to election security and voter confidence ahead of the midterm election cycle.

Americans for Public Trust filed a Federal Election Commission complaint alleging that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher running against Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, illegally coordinated with the liberal 907 Initiative, which has spent roughly $1.5 million on ads attacking the senator. The complaint centers on Democratic strategist Amber Lee, who worked for the J. Sullivan campaign while serving on the 907 Initiative's board. About $575,000 of the group's anti-Sullivan spending occurred in the final 90 days before the primary, and Lee reportedly helped J. Sullivan file his candidacy and draft campaign materials around the same time the group was booking ads against the senator. The 907 Initiative denies any wrongdoing, saying it never employed Lee and had no involvement in her work with the campaign.

J. Sullivan, dubbed "Decoy Dan," has faced accusations of running a bad-faith campaign designed to confuse voters given his shared name with the senator, whose race against Democrat Mary Peltola is among the nation's most competitive Senate contests.