Screenshot shows four Florida counties’ ‘zero’ early voting activity just as voting had started

A Threads user flagged what was believed to be an issue with Florida’s early voting, but a closer look shows the concern was unfounded. 

“Just took this screenshot of early voting by county in FL — shows 4 counties with ZERO results,” the Oct. 26 Threads post said. “It is FREAKING ME OUT that something underhanded might be happening.”

The screenshot had a timestamp of 8:11 a.m. Oct. 26.

(Screenshot from Threads)

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The four counties shown on the screenshot with zero votes cast are Glades, Gulf, Hamilton and Holmes. The reason these counties did not have reported results as of 8:11 a.m. Oct. 26 is simple: early voting in these counties began that same day. In two of the counties, polls were not yet open at 8:11 a.m. The polling places open and close as follows:

• Glades: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, 

• Gulf: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Location 1) and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Location 2), Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, 

• Hamilton: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, 

• Holmes: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, 

As of 8:12 a.m. Oct. 28, the Florida Division of Elections website showed the following vote totals for the four counties:

• Glades: 487

• Gulf: 1,554

• Hamilton: 775

• Holmes: 1,224

Four Florida counties having “zero results” Oct. 26 doesn’t mean “something underhanded might be happening.” We rate that claim False.

By

Loreben Tuquero

Staff writer

October 28, 2024

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• A screenshot showed zero ballots cast during early voting in four Florida counties as of the morning of Oct. 26. 

• That’s not suspicious. Those four counties began early voting within two hours of the screenshot's timestamp.

Statement

Four Florida counties had “zero results” Oct. 26, and “something underhanded might be happening.”

Context

a Threads post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Threads posts

Statement Date

October 26, 2024