AI for Florida Elections

For Supervisors and senior staff

Should our office use AI? Decision brief

AI can save real time on routine writing from public documents. It is safe only with clear rules about what goes in and who checks what comes out. You don’t need to be an AI expert. Make three decisions, try it in one department for 30 days, then decide.

Three decisions

  • 1. Which tools are allowedPick one or two. Use work accounts only. Yellow (internal) information goes only on a business plan with training turned off, or in Microsoft Copilot inside your county’s Microsoft 365.
  • 2. What information can go inGreen (public): any approved tool. Yellow (internal or unchecked): approved business tools, personal information removed first. Red (confidential or exempt): never. For a system export, delete every personal-information column first and share only the cleaned file.
  • 3. Who checks the workA person who knows the work reads every page before it is used. A second person reads anything the public will see. AI never decides a voter’s eligibility or changes ballot language.

Six risks and what helps

  • Data exposure. Green, yellow, red rules. Business plans for yellow. Training off.
  • Wrong answers, published. An expert reads every page before it goes out.
  • Public records gaps. Work accounts only. Save final outputs. Ask your records liaison (RMLO).
  • Shadow AI (staff using tools you don’t know about). Offer an approved tool, keep the rules simple, and let staff ask questions.
  • Vendor terms. Your attorney reads the terms before you buy and again at renewal.
  • AI taking actions (email, files, schedules). No connections to email, voter systems, or Microsoft 365 without IT and legal approval.

What it costs

Free plans cost $0, but Claude’s doesn’t include the Code tab. A good individual plan is about $20 a month, and heavy folder-project work is closer to $100 a month. Business plans for yellow work are about $20 to $25 per person per month. If your county uses Microsoft 365, staff may already have Microsoft Copilot Chat at no extra cost. Prices change often: see Pricing & Plans (see the dates on Pricing & Plans). Your county’s purchasing rules come first.

A 30-day pilot

  • One department, one lead, 30 days, in a quiet month (not early voting, Election Day, or canvassing).
  • Two or three green tasks that use only public information. Time each one the usual way first.
  • Check in weekly. Keep a simple log: time with AI (including review), errors caught, close calls with data.
  • Decide at day 30: go (real time saved, no data incidents), adjust, or stop.

Next step

Ask IT which AI tools came with your licenses. Have your office’s attorney read a one-page policy (a sample is on For Leadership). Name the pilot department and its lead.

Start a 30-day pilot Wait Not now    Decided by: ____________ Date: ________