Florida Early Election Records From Ancestry.com Wiki This entry
was originally written by the Florida Pioneer Descendants
Certification Program Committee of the Florida State
Genealogical Society, Inc. for Red Book: American State, County,
and Town Sources. The Florida State Archives has 2,000 folders
of important early election records. Land records can be
misleading on absentee owners, but election records were sworn
documents requiring proof of residence, usually six months in
the county, two years in the state. The files are arranged by
year, and then by county, but they must be used in person. These
voter rolls and returns list the names of candidates, clerks,
and inspectors in local, state, congressional, referendum, and
militia elections from 1824. Until 1865 each voter’s name and
precinct of residence is listed. Among the most useful records
for those tracing ancestors at the time of statehood are the
returns of the first statewide election, held on 26 May 1845, in
Brian E. Michaels, Florida Voters i