Palm Beach County
Florida's third most populous county, on The Atlantic coast; seat West Palm Beach.
Palm Beach County was one of three Florida counties where the state kept Justice Department monitors out of polling places in 2022, the counter-example raised when the NAACP sued over federal monitors on 5 October 2026.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026
Timeline for Palm Beach County
Refused DOJ monitors inside polling places in 2022
US Midterms 2026: Mentioned in: NAACP sues for DOJ poll-monitor recordsBackground
Palm Beach County is Florida's third most populous county, with 1,492,191 residents at the 2020 census, behind Miami-Dade and Broward. The Florida Legislature created it in 1909 with West Palm Beach as its seat, and it covers about 2,383 square miles.
Its butterfly ballot in the 2000 presidential election Fed the Florida recount that Bush v. Gore settled, the county's best-known mark on US election history. In November 2022 the state refused to let Justice Department monitors inside polling places here and in Miami-Dade and Broward, citing state law on who may enter. That refusal was the counter-example when the NAACP sued in October 2026 for records on the department's planned election monitors.
West Palm Beach is the home base of Lois Frankel, one of four Democratic incumbents targeted by the congressional map Governor Ron DeSantis signed in May 2026. The Town of Palm Beach, on the barrier island inside the county, holds Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.