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Duval County elections official details staffing, security and mail procedures for disasters
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Summary
Duval County chief deputy supervisor of elections Justin Guiclione told the advisory committee the county maintains continuity plans, runs cyber‑vulnerability scans with state cyber navigators, retrained staff on suspicious mail procedures, and can scale staffing to meet emergencies; he described coordination with Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security on physical security.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Justin Guiclione, chief deputy supervisor of elections for Duval County, told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Florida advisory committee on April 9 that the county runs detailed continuity plans, uses outside assessments for both physical and information security, and maintains contingency staffing and communications to preserve voting access during disasters.
Guiclione said Duval County has about 660,000 registered voters, roughly 160 precincts, 158 polling locations and 24 early voting sites. The elections office employs 34 full‑time and three part‑time staff in ordinary times and scales to about 60–80 additional seasonal employees during election periods; roughly 1,700 poll workers are used during major elections, he said.
On security, Guiclione described assessments conducted with the Florida Department of State cyber navigators, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, CISA and Homeland Security. He said the county instituted a separate mailroom to limit exposure and trained staff to identify suspicious packages; the office also implemented two‑factor authentication and other controls for sensitive areas. "We trained employees on suspicious looking packages… we have actually created a mail room," he said.
Guiclione emphasized preparedness steps: continuity of operations (COOP) plans submitted to the state, an emergency action plan tailored to facility needs, and regular practice and review exercises. He said counties and the state maintain regular stakeholder meetings with the U.S. Postal Service during election periods and increase coordination around storms to locate or hold ballots in transit.
Committee members raised staffing fatigue and turnover concerns; Guiclione said long hours are demanding but the office builds replacement capacity into plans and expects peer support among supervisors if a county loses staff in an emergency. On cybersecurity, he said county IT and state‑level cyber navigators perform vulnerability scans and pen tests and that outside assistance is offered to counties at no cost.
The committee thanked Guiclione for the detailed operational account; no formal actions followed.
