Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes is soon expected to be removed from office by Florida governor Rick Scott or his likely successor, Representative Ron Desantis (R., Fla.), due to her multiple violations of Florida elections and public information law, Politico reported Monday.
Snipes, who has twice been found guilty of violating election law in the past two years alone, has come under scrutiny in the wake of the midterm elections for refusing to disclose the number of absentee ballots received by her office and for contaminating some 200 valid provisional ballots by mixing in 22 rejected ballots.
“This is not just the most troubled elections office in the state, it’s the most troubled elections office in the nation,” said Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has argued Snipes should be removed from office immediately after the ongoing recounts in the senate and gubernatorial races are complete.
“She has shown she’s incapable of conducting a large and important election in a way that inspires public confidence and trust,” Rubio said. “She’s been found to have destroyed ballots, in violation of the law. Opened absentee ballots early, in violation of the law. Misprinted ballots that have gone out.”
Snipes attorney cast the criticisms levied against her client as part of a partisan effort to interfere in the recounts, which began Sunday.
“Political gamesmanship at its best,” Norris-Weeks told Politico. “The Broward County and Palm Beach County Supervisors of Elections (and the canvassing boards for both counties) have done nothing more than count all votes as required by law. Ridiculous!”
Should Snipes be suspended by the governor, Florida state senate president Bill Galvano plans to launch an investigation into her conduct.
“What she’s demonstrated over the years is a series of mistakes that rise above the level of negligence and into incompetence,” Galvano said. “We can’t continue to keep ignoring this and every option should be on the table.”
A judge ordered Snipes Friday to release documents revealing how many mail-in absentee ballots her office received after attorneys for Scott’s Senate campaign argued her refusal to do so violated Florida public records law, which requires that elections officials disclose the number of absentee ballots in their possession within 30 minutes after the polls close and continue to update their vote count every 45 minutes thereafter.
Scott’s campaign filed a civil motion on Sunday asking that state police “impound and secure all voting machines, tallying devices, and ballots” from Broward and Palm Beach counties due to the irregularities in their reporting.
Scott initially led incumbent Democratic senator Bill Nelson by more than 50,000 votes as of Tuesday night but that margin shrunk to just 12,562 after Broward and Palm Beach both reported an influx of uncounted mail-in ballots. The slight margin triggered a recount, which was supposed to begin at 7a.m. on Sunday but did not begin until noon because Snipes was not prepared for the deadline.