All voters have the right to vote free of intimidation, including from law enforcement, military, and federal agents.
It is illegal for anyone to try to or actually intimidate, threaten, or coerce someone who is voting or trying to vote, or someone who is helping a person to vote. By law, members of the military, state and local law enforcement, and federal agents, including ICE, may not intimidate or prevent a qualified voter from voting through force, threat, or other action. It doesn’t matter if the intimidation was deliberate, as long as the voter, or the voter’s helper, felt intimidated.
Beyond the federal laws against intimidation, it is also illegal for any person in the U.S. civil, military, or naval service to order troops or armed federal agents to any place where an election is held. By law, officers of the U.S. military may not interfere with the freedom of any election or the exercise of the right to vote in any state.
All voters have the right not to be discriminated against based on race, national origin, or disability.
All voters who need assistance because of a disability or inability to read and write in the language of the ballot may choose someone to help them to vote, as long as the person is not an agent/representative of the voter’s employer or union.
If you have questions or need assistance on-site, the best person to speak to is a local election worker. Poll workers are members of your community, and work for the municipal or county government rather than the federal government.
If you observe violations of these rules, call 866-OUR-VOTE, the Election Protection Hotline! You can even report anonymously. If you are voting in person, and you feel comfortable doing so, you can quietly report your concerns to an on-site poll worker. Do not approach, speak to, or engage a law enforcement officer.
It is a crime to frivolously challenge a voter.
You can only be challenged as to the following four things:
Challenges MUST be in writing and must be signed under oath. If you are challenged, election officials are required to provide you a copy of the challenge. Be sure to ask for it if one is not given to you.
Challenges are made by filling out individual affidavits: a challenger cannot use one affidavit to challenge multiple people at once. Only a person registered in a county can challenge a voter in that county.
Challengers CANNOT single out groups of people for challenges, such as only challenging residence of students.
Talk to the clerk or deputy at the polling location. If that does not resolve the issue, call Election Protection.
You have a right to vote a provisional ballot:
Challenged voters who cast a provisional ballot must present written evidence supporting their eligibility to the supervisor of elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on the second day following the Election. The county canvassing board will then examine the evidence along with the voter’s certificate and affirmation to determine if the voter was eligible to vote.
No. Poll workers must remain nonpartisan while on duty.
No photography is allowed in the polling room or the early voting area unless it is a voter taking a photo of their own ballot. Photography of others may be considered voter intimidation.
Under Florida law, only these people are allowed in the polling room:
Talk to the clerk or deputy at the polling location. If that does not resolve the issue, call Election Protection.
All voters have the right to request and obtain assistance in voting from two election officials or from any person other than their employer, employer’s agent, or union representative. Voters with disabilities have the right to vote on accessible equipment.
Voters with limited English proficiency are allowed to: vote using a Spanish translated ballot, have translated materials such as sample ballots with them, bring a person of their choosing to interpret (as long as that person is not an employer, an employer’s agent, or a union representative), and use the translation assistance provided by the county (typically a bilingual worker, interpreter, multi-language-audio-capable equipment, or a professional phone translator service).
Fair Elections Center and its Campus Vote Project intend the information contained herein to be used only as a general guide. This document should not be used as a substitute for consultation with a licensed Florida legal professional. Updated August 2026.