When the pressure is on, the GOP has too often proven its skill at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Posted on 11/12/2018 8:49:06 AM PST by Beautiful_Gracious_Skies
Counting unlawful votes. Destroying ballots. Sunshine Law violations. Busted deadlines.
So many controversies have bedeviled Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes — culminating in her office’s troubles in the aftermath of Florida’s chaotic 2018 elections — that her days in office are now numbered, insiders and lawmakers say. She’s losing support from fellow Democrats and faces the increasing likelihood of an embarrassing suspension from office at the hands of either Gov. Rick Scott or his likely successor, Ron DeSantis.
Suspending Snipes from office would put a final exclamation point on one of the most contested midterms in recent Florida history, which has resulted in three statewide recounts — for U.S. Senate, governor and agriculture commissioner — as well as recounts in three local legislative races. Removal proceedings in the GOP-led FL Senate could also cause a possible rift among Florida state Senate Democrats if the black caucus rallies around Snipes in the same way it did around her predecessor, who was also African-American, more than a decade ago.
“This is not just the most troubled elections office in the state, it’s the most troubled elections office in the nation,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, who contends that Snipes needs to be removed from office once the recounts that began Sunday ... are over.
“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.”[snip]
If Snipes is suspended by the governor, incoming Florida state Senate President Bill Galvano said it’s time to have his chamber investigate and prepare to strike the final blow by removing her from office — just as the chamber did to her predecessor, Miriam Oliphant, for mismanaging the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
“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.”
Under Florida's constitution, "incompetence" is a specific cause that a governor can invoke in suspending a constitutional officer such as Snipes.
Democrats say Snipes has privately confided that she plans to quit, but it’s unclear when. “I hope it’s soon,” said one state Senate Democrat... “Otherwise, she’s a goner.” ...
Neither Scott's nor DeSantis’ teams will comment on the record about their plans for what many see as Snipes’ looming suspension, because both men are involved in races that are the subject of recounts and lawsuits. They don’t want their comments used against them in court, according to those close to both Republicans. [snip]
... [Scott's]The lawsuit against Snipes reads like an indictment, detailing numerous instances of Snipes ignoring the law and busting statutory deadlines....
“In 2016, the SOE office: (i) mailed an unknown number of absentee ballots that omitted a proposed state constitutional amendment; (ii) posted early voting numbers online before the polls closed in primary elections; and (iii) opened ballots in private which prevented citizens and other groups of ensuring ballots were properly cast and counted,” .... “in 2017, the Supervisor of Elections: (i) admitted that her office has allowed ineligible voters — including felons and non-citizens — to cast votes; and (ii) wrongfully authorized the destruction of ballots cast in the 2016 Democratic primary election for the 23rd Congressional District of Florida.” [snip]
However, the parade of horribles leads to one question that Scott’s spokesmen won’t or can’t answer: Why didn’t he suspend Snipes before if, as his suit says, she “has a long and troubling history of violating Florida election law, especially in close elections?"....
Scott’s lawsuit [last week] Snipes failed to provide public information concerning the votes she had left to tally after Election Day — information that should readily be at her fingertips and that, under Florida’s Sunshine Laws, she should have disclosed. Snipes was unwilling or unable to provide the data, and her office didn’t follow state law requiring regular vote tally updates every 45 minutes... Then, in the dead of night, the office suddenly uploaded tens of thousands of new ballots in the Democratic-heavy county, causing Scott’s margins statewide to fall so far that it triggered a recount...[snip]
To cap it all off, the recount was supposed to start at 7 a.m. Sunday. But ....delayed... until just before noon. At the last minute, Snipes also admitted to mistakenly including 22 [illegal] absentee ballots...Broward County also failed to finish tallying its available votes by noon Saturday, the deadline... It also failed to upload all the in-person early votes and available absentee ballot votes by 7 p.m. on the day before the election. [snip]
“Scott shouldn’t kick her out of office. He should send her flowers,” an insider connected to DeSantis said sarcastically. “this is a problem for everyone and Scott should have removed her before this happened. This is his problem. He should have fixed it. Ron will if he has to.”
Many Democrats refrained from speaking critically of Snipes. But some clearly have had enough....
Snipes should have been removed after illegally destroying ballots in 2016.
How does a criminal referral come out of this?
It isn’t incompetence. It was criminality. It was just being a Democrat cheating in another election.
We can thank Yeb! for this act of love ........
Fit her for an orange jumpsuit, now!
You won't find what you are not looking for. Just the lack of adherence to ballot counting guidelines should be enough to act - especially given her past. Setting the bar at evidence of a crime is deliberate here, IMO, to justify not acting in the face of clear evidence of statutory wrongdoing.
Scott’s Senate campaign on Sunday filed an extraordinary civil court motion that asked the state police agency or Broward County’s sheriff to “impound and secure all voting machines, tallying devices, and ballots" as if the elections office were a crime scene.
I think both institutions are too corrupted to act. Maybe we could call in the feds, you know, the FBI. Whoops, wait... Maybe the media can cover this. Yeah, right.
So in other words, the Dems have managed to so corrupt law enforcement and media institutions that democracy does not die in darkness, it is stolen in broad daylight.
When the pressure is on, the GOP has too often proven its skill at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
She’s worked 15 years at those offices making $130-175K a year. As good as a senator.
incompetence?
Shouldn’t it be against the law to defraud or at least disenfranchise your voters?
Hows this for a better description.
“Gross Negligence”
heh
Meanwhile in NYC, Alexandria Occasional Cortex prepares for a new career...
This is coming from Politico?!? wow..
Democrats avoiding incompetence as its grounds for suspension. Now I get it.
She is just the middle man in a highly coordinated, well funded political coup.
It’s a better job. Working a major election every 4 years and a minor every 2.
Plenty of beach time for Snipes.
Didn’t her ‘troubles’ start long before that? I had read somewhere that she had been convicted of voter fraud 4 times, already?!
Not enough, not nearly enough. Florida needs to prosecute both counties and individuals involved to the fullest.
Then, Florida needs a comprehensive election process reform to fully eliminate the possibility of wholesale vote manufacturing, voters from other states, registration fraud, and voter id.
If Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade officials aren’t at the very minimum removed Scott should be removed from office.
If Politico is going negative on a democrat you know she’s done for
She’s been rigging elections since Yeb! appointed her in 2002.
2016 was so blatant that not removing her seems like criminal negligence.
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