Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center

Reported Voting Issues: Brevard County, Florida

About this Report

This report tracks self-reports of voting-related issues including misleading election messages, intimidation, and voter registration problems to help identify areas that may need a closer look. It is part of the broader 2026 Voting Information Trends Research Initiative, which examines how Americans access voting information and understand key election-related topics ahead of the 2026 U.S. elections.

We include counties where at least 50 people responded to our survey. Of 250 such counties, Brevard County ranked 222nd highest in reports during this survey period. Findings reflect 81 respondents from Brevard County, Florida, surveyed between August 23 and October 26, 2026.

Important Note: This is not a nationally or locally representative sample. Respondents are recruited online, and counties rated higher risk by the Voting Rights Lab are oversampled. Figures are unweighted and reflect only those who responded, not the broader county population. Findings should be interpreted as signals that warrant further attention or verification, rather than as representative estimates or rankings of election administration, election integrity, or the prevalence of voting problems among county residents.

Monitored election problems

ProblemCounts when a respondent reports they…Time window
Registration challenge noticeGot a notice that their voter registration was challenged or canceled, or that they were removed from the rolls.Past month
Conflicting registration informationGot conflicting information about their voter registration.Past week or month
Discouraged from registeringSomeone tried to discourage them from registering or staying registered.Past day, week or month
Misleading calls or textsGot a text, email, message, call or robocall about the 2026 election that felt misleading, coercive or unusual.Past day, week or month
Intimidation or harassmentExperienced or witnessed harassment or intimidation connected with voting or elections.2026 election cycle
Trouble with a voting taskHad trouble registering, checking their registration, or requesting, returning or tracking a mail ballot.2026 election

Table of Contents

Select a name to go to that section.

SectionWhat it shows
Summary of FindingsShare of Brevard County respondents reporting each problem, compared with the Florida and national rates
Week by weekWeekly shares for the three problems asked about in the past day or week
Who reported a problemShares by gender, age, household income, race/ethnicity, education and party
Follow-up detailFollow-up answers for each problem reported by more than 10 people
Florida overviewThe same measures for all respondents in Florida, for comparison
National overviewThe same measures for all respondents nationally, for comparison
About the surveyWhat the survey monitors, how counties are ranked, and limits of the data

Summary of Findings

19.8% of Brevard County respondents (16 of 81) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. No single problem is higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error. Statewide, 26.4% of Florida respondents (600 of 2,272) reported at least one problem; the chart shows Brevard County, Florida and national rates side by side. Brevard County respondents make up 3.6% of all Florida respondents (81 of 2,272) and 0.1% of all respondents nationally (81 of 56,077).

Share reporting each problem, Brevard County, Florida

Figure 1. Share of Brevard County, Florida respondents reporting each problem, with the Florida and national shares, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Brevard County n = 81; Florida n = 2,272 (including Brevard County, 4% of the state's respondents); national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the county share reporting any problem: ±8.7 percentage points, so the county figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, Brevard County, Florida

Figure 2. Weekly share of Brevard County, Florida respondents reporting each problem (teal line with circles), with Florida statewide (red line with squares, including Brevard County) and the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Brevard County respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Weekly groups in Brevard County are small (12 to 24 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of Brevard County respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 5.8% to 16.7% (69 and 24 people): no clear change, since the difference is within the margin of error.

Who reported a problem

Among groups of 30 or more people, reports were most common among women (21.6%) and least common among people aged 45 to 64 (16.2%), against 19.8% overall.

GroupReportedShare
All respondents16 of 8119.8%
Gender
Female11 of 5121.6%
Male5 of 3016.7%
Age
18 to 240 of 4–
25 to 445 of 1631.2%
45 to 646 of 3716.2%
65 and over5 of 2420.8%
Household income
Under 25K7 of 1936.8%
25k to under 50k4 of 2714.8%
50K to under 75K2 of 1118.2%
75K to under 100K1 of 7–
100K and over2 of 1612.5%
GroupReportedShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian13 of 6420.3%
Black or African American1 of 147.1%
Hispanic or Latino2 of 7–
Native American or Alaska Native0 of 1–
Education
Some High School or Less0 of 1–
High School Graduate6 of 2326.1%
Some College2 of 267.7%
College Degree6 of 2227.3%
Graduate Degree2 of 9–
Party
Democrat6 of 2623.1%
Republican7 of 3321.2%
Independent/Other3 of 2213.6%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Brevard County, Florida, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: registration challenge notices (0 people), conflicting registration information (no follow-up question), being discouraged from registering (5 people), intimidation or harassment (5 people) and trouble with a voting task (7 people).

Florida Overview

August 23 to October 26, 2026. 2,272 respondents across Florida, including people whose county is not on file.

26.4% of Florida respondents (600 of 2272) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. Of the monitored problems, conflicting registration information (6.3% vs. 5.1% nationally), being discouraged from registering (4.8% vs. 3.8%) and trouble with a voting task (9.3% vs. 7.2%) are higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error.

Share reporting each problem, Florida

Figure 3. Share of Florida respondents reporting each problem, with the national share, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Florida n = 2272; national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the state share reporting any problem: ±1.8 percentage points, so the state figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Florida: Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, Florida

Figure 4. Weekly share of Florida respondents reporting each problem (red line), with the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Florida respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Weekly groups in Florida are small (47 to 593 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding.

Florida: Who reported a problem

Among groups of 30 or more people, reports were most common among Asian or Asian American respondents (43.3%) and least common among people without a high school diploma (12.3%), against 26.4% overall. Reports fell with age. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Asian or Asian American respondents (43.3%, 26 of 60), 1.8 times the rate among White or Caucasian respondents (24.0%, 385 of 1604), a difference larger than the margin of error; Hispanic or Latino respondents (31.9%), Black or African American respondents (31.4%) and Native American or Alaska Native respondents (31.2%) fell in between.

GroupReportedShare
All respondents600 of 227226.4%
Gender
Female295 of 117625.1%
Male305 of 109627.8%
Age
18 to 2447 of 11042.7%
25 to 44244 of 72433.7%
45 to 64191 of 81623.4%
65 and over118 of 62219.0%
Household income
Under 25K111 of 49322.5%
25k to under 50k166 of 65925.2%
50K to under 75K121 of 49224.6%
75K to under 100K86 of 28530.2%
100K and over105 of 32032.8%
GroupReportedShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian385 of 160424.0%
Black or African American139 of 44331.4%
Hispanic or Latino106 of 33231.9%
Asian or Asian American26 of 6043.3%
Native American or Alaska Native10 of 3231.2%
Other4 of 1428.6%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian2 of 5–
Education
Some High School or Less10 of 8112.3%
High School Graduate173 of 68725.2%
Some College143 of 57125.0%
College Degree217 of 74429.2%
Graduate Degree57 of 18930.2%
Party
Democrat231 of 78529.4%
Republican215 of 83225.8%
Independent/Other153 of 65223.5%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Florida, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Florida: Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).

Registration notices: who sent the notice

Election office46% (28)
A political party or campaign30% (18)
News or social media30% (18)
A private group or organization26% (16)
Not sure13% (8)

Share of the 61 people asked.

Trouble with a voting task, by task

Trouble checking registration4% (88)
Trouble registering4% (88)
Trouble requesting a mail ballot3% (60)
Trouble tracking a ballot3% (58)
Trouble returning a mail ballot2% (38)

Share of the 2289 people asked.

Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them

A political party or campaign36% (40)
A private group or organization34% (37)
News or social media34% (37)
Election office28% (31)
Not sure8% (9)
Other5% (5)

Share of the 110 people asked.

National Overview

August 23 to October 26, 2026. 56,077 respondents who answered all six questions.

26.5% of respondents (14,861 of 56,077) reported at least one of six election problems. The most common were misleading calls or texts (15.7%) and intimidation or harassment (7.7%); the least common was registration challenge notices (2.5%).

Share of respondents reporting each problem, national

Figure 5. Share of respondents reporting each problem, national, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Each person counted once; bases vary slightly by question (56,077 to 56,446). Margin of error for the national share reporting any problem: ±0.4 percentage points. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

National: Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, national

Figure 6. Weekly share of respondents reporting each problem, national. The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week, so weekly rates are lower than full-period rates. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Misleading calls or texts went from 6.8% in the week of Aug 31 to 11.8% in the week of Oct 19; being discouraged from registering went from 1.9% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.0% in the week of Oct 19; conflicting registration information went from 2.0% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.1% in the week of Oct 19. Weeks have 2,874 to 16,019 respondents (the first, partial week 388), so the margin of error is narrow except in that first week. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 10.4% to 13.9% (44,992 and 16,011 people): a rise larger than the margin of error.

National: Who reported a problem

Among groups of 200 or more people, reports were most common among people aged 18 to 24 (42.5%) and least common among people 65 and over (19.0%), against 26.5% overall. Reports rose with income and education, and fell with age. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Hispanic or Latino respondents (33.6%, 1628 of 4850), 8 points higher than White or Caucasian respondents (25.1%, 10421 of 41451), a difference larger than the margin of error; Asian or Asian American respondents (30.5%), Black or African American respondents (30.2%), Other respondents (30.1%), Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian respondents (29.3%) and Native American or Alaska Native respondents (29.0%) fell in between.

GroupPeopleShare
All respondents56,07726.5%
Gender
Female32,59424.6%
Male23,48329.1%
Age
18 to 243,00042.5%
25 to 4420,21632.0%
45 to 6421,42623.0%
65 and over11,43519.0%
Household income
Under 25K14,92422.3%
25k to under 50k15,84024.7%
50K to under 75K10,77127.8%
75K to under 100K6,12430.5%
100K and over7,82832.6%
GroupPeopleShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian41,45125.1%
Black or African American9,96630.2%
Hispanic or Latino4,85033.6%
Native American or Alaska Native1,86929.0%
Asian or Asian American1,64830.5%
Other47830.1%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian31429.3%
Education
Some High School or Less2,60519.1%
High School Graduate17,57423.2%
Some College14,40425.8%
College Degree16,72430.0%
Graduate Degree4,77032.7%
Party
Democrat20,12929.2%
Republican17,07326.4%
Independent/Other18,81423.6%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, national. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

National: Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail for respondents nationwide who reported each problem. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).

Registration notices: who sent the notice

Election office46% (647)
A political party or campaign28% (394)
News or social media22% (308)
A private group or organization21% (299)
Not sure14% (191)
Other3% (45)

Share of the 1,401 people asked.

Trouble with a voting task, by task

Trouble registering3% (1,789)
Trouble checking registration3% (1,689)
Trouble requesting a mail ballot2% (1,041)
Trouble tracking a ballot2% (1,039)
Trouble returning a mail ballot1% (656)

Share of all 56,446 respondents asked.

Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them

News or social media35% (749)
A political party or campaign32% (684)
A private group or organization27% (584)
Election office25% (544)
Other10% (210)
Not sure10% (206)

Share of the 2,161 people asked.

About the survey

The 2026 Voting Information Trends research Initiative tracks how people get voting information and monitors possible election-related problems reported at the county level. We focus on issues respondents say they have personally experienced or observed, including misleading election communications, intimidation, voter registration problems, and difficulties completing voting-related tasks. The goal is to identify signals that may warrant closer attention.

We survey about 1,000 U.S. adults each day through an online, nonprobability sample covering all 50 states and Washington, D.C. State-level quotas are used for race, ethnicity, age, and gender. We also collect additional responses from selected counties identified as higher risk by the Voting Rights Lab (VRL), whose 2026 risk index considers factors including electoral competitiveness, election laws and procedures, litigation, and concerns involving state and local election actors.

How to read this report

Counties with at least 50 respondents are ranked by the share of unique respondents reporting at least one monitored problem during the data-collection period. We also report results for individual problems, weekly trends, demographic groups, and when sample sizes allow, additional follow-up detail.

Weekly trends are shown only for questions that ask about experiences in the past day or week, and each respondent is counted once per week. Figures include a 95% margin of error based on sample size. We describe a county as higher than the national rate only when the difference is larger than that margin.

When a respondent selects a problem but then states in an optional written follow-up that nothing actually happened, we recode the response as not reporting the problem. These contradictions are identified using a large language model (LLM) assisted coding and reviewed by a member of the research team.

About the data

These results are signals, not estimates of prevalence. The survey is not nationally or locally representative, and results should not be used to estimate how common a problem is in the country or in any county. Figures are unweighted and describe the people who responded. Unlike individual reports found on social media, these responses come from a standardized survey using the same questions and time periods across respondents, allowing us to compare patterns across places and against a national benchmark.

The purpose of the survey is to identify issues that may warrant independent investigation or verification. Election officials, journalists, and other organizations can then assess those reports and respond when appropriate.

Because the data are self-reported, a response does not by itself verify that the reported problem occurred. Respondents may also interpret questions differently from researchers. For example, some reports of “misleading calls or texts” describe campaign messages rather than false voting information, and some registration notices may come from campaigns or advocacy organizations rather than election offices. These findings should therefore be treated as signals of where to look more closely, not counts of verified incidents.

Use of AI in this report

The research team wrote and reviewed the “About the survey” section. The summaries of the results are filled in automatically from templates built with AI. All numbers come directly from the survey data. Automated text can contain errors, so readers should check the summaries against the tables and charts.