Brenda Snipes: On second thought, I’m not resigning as Broward Co. Election Supervisor
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Brenda Snipes: On second thought, I’m not resigning as Broward Co. Election Supervisor

Brenda Snipes: On second thought, I’m not resigning as Broward Co. Election Supervisor

After her suspension by out-going Governor Rick Scott, Snipes rescinds her resignation and vows to fight to stay in position

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article222488620.html

I’m so old, I remember when Brenda Snipes, the controversial and disgraced Broward County Supervisor of Elections resigned after a firestorm of controversy over her handling of ballot counting in the 2018 midterms.

The resignation was effective January 4, 2019, the day after Republican Rick Scott’s term as Governor was to end and he was to move on to the U.S. Senate, having defeated Bill Nelson.

As we reported yesterday, November 30, 2019, Brenda Snipes resigned effective next January 4, but Rick Scott just preemptively suspended her.

Here is Scott’s statement announcing the suspension:

“Every eligible voter in Florida deserves their vote to be counted and should have confidence in Florida’s elections process. After a series of inexcusable actions, it’s clear that there needs to be an immediate change in Broward County and taxpayers should no longer be burdened by paying a salary for a Supervisor of Elections who has already announced resignation. I know that Pete will be solely focused on running free and fair elections, will not be running for election and will bring order and integrity back to this office.”

But wait, there’s more.

Snipes now says she’s rescinding her resignation and will fight the suspension. The Sun-Sentinel reports:

Broward Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes announced Saturday she will fight her suspension by the governor, and rescinded her letter of resignation that preceded it.

Gov. Rick Scott suspended Snipes late Friday afternoon, citing mistakes her office made in recent elections.

The elections office attorney, Burnadette Norris Weeks, said the governor is holding her to a different standard than other elections offices in Florida, “as if there can never be a mistake made.”

In a room filled with black pastors, elected officials, community leaders and her fellow “Deltas” sorority sisters in their trademark red clothing, Snipes thanked her supporters.

The suspension could cause Snipes to lose her pension from 15 years in the office, the announcement for the press conference suggested. But Norris Weeks said Snipes was unable to get answers to her questions about the pension Friday.

She said Broward voters “should be very concerned about our democracy,” after a Republican governor removed a Democratic elections supervisor in a heavily Democratic county.

The Miami Herald further reports:

“We will be fighting this,” said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, Snipes’ contracted attorney, during a press conference Saturday. “In additional to that, Dr. Snipes hereby rescinds her resignation which would have been effective on the fourth of January. She rescinds that resignation as we go forward and fight these…allegations that are frivolous.”

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Comments

regulus arcturus | December 1, 2018 at 7:02 pm

Prosecute her.

    For what? Name a criminal offense she even committed, let alone one that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

      What law book are you reading where charging someone with a crime requires “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” at the time of their indictment?

      Just the tip of the iceberg:
      https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/breaking-judge-rules-in-rick-scotts-favor-says-broward-county-violated-constitution/

        It is utterly unethical to bring criminal charges without being confident that one will be able to prove the case at trial.

        And the judge did not say that Snipes had committed any offense.

          Jefferson Alexander in reply to Milhouse. | December 2, 2018 at 4:09 am

          I see you’re also an expert on legal ethics and professional responsibility, Milhouse.

          In Florida, as it also is with the ABA Model Rules, a prosecutor can “bring criminal charges” as long as they know the charges are supported by probable cause. R. Regulating Fla. Bar 4-3.8(a).

          They do not need to be confident that they’ll be able to prove it at trial. State v. Gonzalez, 212 So. 3d 1094 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017).

          MarkS in reply to Milhouse. | December 2, 2018 at 7:42 am

          Even news reports indicate Snipes broke several laws

          PersonofInterests in reply to Milhouse. | December 2, 2018 at 8:35 am

          Tell that line of BS to Rod Rosenstein and his Mobster Thug, Bob Mueller.

          In Florida, as it also is with the ABA Model Rules, a prosecutor can “bring criminal charges” as long as they know the charges are supported by probable cause. R. Regulating Fla. Bar 4-3.8(a).

          They do not need to be confident that they’ll be able to prove it at trial. State v. Gonzalez, 212 So. 3d 1094 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017).

          Just because a Prosecutor is empowered to bring charges does NOT mean that they should bring criminal charges. If the Prosecutor is not confident based on the evidence that they can proceed to trial AND WIN A CONVICTION, then they ethically shouldn’t charge it.

          Also, if there’s even the most tiny whiff of impropriety as to motive of the prosecutor and the Prosecutor does bring it to trial and the Defendant is acquitted, the District Attorney’s office is looking at a Malicious Prosecution arrow aimed right for their insurance carrier’s heart.

      Jefferson Alexander in reply to Milhouse. | December 2, 2018 at 3:10 am

      Oh, I don’t know . . . you’re a better lawyer than I am, Milhouse, but I’ll take a shot. For starters, under the Florida Statutes (2018):

      Section 104.041 (fraud in connection with casting a vote for letting felons, illegal aliens, and other ineligible people vote);

      Section 104.051 (neglect of duty & corrupt practices);

      Section 104.13 (intermingling ballots);

      Section 104.29 (not allowing witnesses during the counting of ballots);

      Section 104.41 (catchall for whatever else she did that’s not otherwise specifically labeled a crime under the election code); and

      Section 838.022(1)(b) (official misconduct by tampering with or destroying official documents or records).

      Under federal statutes:

      52 U.S.C. 20511(2)(B) (tabulating fraudulent ballots and other acts of voting fraud);

      52 U.S.C. 20701 (destroying ballots);

      And so forth.

      If you have been paying attention to what was going on and bothered to read something other than moonbat publications, you should be familiar with the laundry list of her misdeeds that fit each of those potential charges.

      But if you want citations or are genuinely curious, use Google. I’m not your research assistant.

        I have not seen any reports that she willfully enabled any ineligible person to vote, or did any of these other things. Remember, willfulness is an element of all these offences.

          Antifundamentalist in reply to Milhouse. | December 3, 2018 at 12:43 pm

          Millhouse, where do you get your news? Her antics have been all over local Florida news channels. Hell, it even made international news in some places. Only the US national level fake news outlets pretend that there was nothing to report.

        Case Closed! Book ’em Dano!

      Yes, Milhouse, we know you will always rush in like a white knight to try to defend any leftist you can.

        Milhouse in reply to rdm. | December 2, 2018 at 12:36 pm

        That is false, and you know it very well. You are, by your own admission, an piece of sh*t entirely without principles, who decides what to defend or condemn based on whose team someone is on, and whose ox is gored. But you have no right to project that unprincipled behavior on anybody else. Everyone here knows that I am never guided by whose ox is gored; what is truth for a rightist is truth for a leftist and vice versa.

        Milwaukee in reply to rdm. | December 2, 2018 at 5:11 pm

        rdm
        Gotta throw the penalty flag at you on this one. The “always” is an absolute. All Milhouse need to do is find 1 (one) example where he didn’t, and he has proven himself correct, and you wrong.

        Two hands here. Yes, Milhouse has a penchant for pointing out things to slow down the mob, he is sometimes, spot on.

        Where is the crime? If she tolerated others doing illegal stuff, that is harder to prove. It must be proven she knew others were doing that stuff, and didn’t take strong enough measures to stop it.

          Milwaukee in reply to Milwaukee. | December 2, 2018 at 5:13 pm

          Let’s go with “Russian Collusion-Trump for $2000”.

          Insert the word almost before always then and the entirety of the rest stands,

          MajorWood in reply to Milwaukee. | December 2, 2018 at 5:55 pm

          If she committed crimes, she should be prosecuted. If she allowed others to commit crimes, she should be dismissed for incompetence. Bad stuff happened, we just need to sort out her position in the food chain (hint, not s near the top as she believes). I see her as someone, who, if given the opportunity, will talk herslf into a long sentence. They just need to get her talking while the brain insn’t engaged, which is likely whenever her eyes are open.

      regulus arcturus in reply to Milhouse. | December 2, 2018 at 12:55 pm

      Violation of FL state election laws for starters, dimwit.

    Typical behavior of an arrogant sociopath.

    She should have taken the shame and gone quietly with her $130k per year.

    Same with that idiot, hillary clinton.

    BeetleJuice needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

    Ohio Historian in reply to regulus arcturus. | December 5, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    And tell Jeb Bush, the clown that appointed her sorry self, to not show his stupid face ever again.

Why am I not surprised?

I am so sick and tired of reading about these “public servants” who are stupid, ignorant, corrupt and often times criminal. And NOTHING ever happens to them, except they retire with fat pensions and then go find another “public service” positions so they can double-dip.

    amwick in reply to Paul. | December 1, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    Peter Antonacci has already been named to fill the vacancy created by her suspension. So she is not resigning from a job that she no longer has.

    When the likes of Sherlock Sessions becomes a GOPe AG, it ain’t much different than Holder or Lynch becoming AG.

    Burn the GOPe to the ground.

    Colonel Travis in reply to Paul. | December 2, 2018 at 12:08 am

    Ditto.
    These people are disgusting.

    MarkS in reply to Paul. | December 2, 2018 at 7:43 am

    Well then direct your ire at whimpy Republicans who sit back and let this happen! Rick Scott and Pam Bondi could do alot to get Snipes

      CaptTee in reply to MarkS. | December 3, 2018 at 11:57 am

      Still waiting for the FDLE report. They aren’t know for leaks, so we don’t know what they have evidence of already.

      They may have advised Governor Scott to suspend her to get her out of the office if they saw her intimidating employees. We just don’t know, since there have been no leeks, although the suspension may be part of the effort to preserve evidence, since one of the complaints against here is not preserving required records from the 2016 Election.

        CaptTee in reply to CaptTee. | December 3, 2018 at 11:59 am

        Still waiting for the FDLE report. They aren’t known for leaks, so we don’t know what they have evidence of already.

        They may have advised Governor Scott to suspend her to get her out of the office if they saw her intimidating employees. We just don’t know, since there have been no leeks, although the suspension may be part of the effort to preserve evidence, since one of the complaints against her is not preserving required records from the 2016 Election.

I’d like to know what enabled Snipes to suddenly feel confident to the extent that rescinding her resignation was the right move.

CaliforniaJimbo | December 1, 2018 at 7:42 pm

Yep it’s the pension. Knew it was money.

This is exactly what happens when you let Democrats walk on crime. She now has had time to tamper with the evidence like she did in the Wassermann case. Republicans really are the stupid party.

Comanche Voter | December 1, 2018 at 8:12 pm

Lock her out! Of her office that is before she has time to pull another couple of thousand Democrat votes out of her purse, where she “forgot to look” beforehand.

DieJustAsHappy | December 1, 2018 at 8:13 pm

She’s being held to a different standard. Oh, is that doing a competent job is known as these days …

Eastwood Ravine | December 1, 2018 at 8:23 pm

If she can be suspended, she can be fired or removed.

There is a reason why racism continues to foment evil in society. Nword is as Nword does–mmm, mmm, mmm, we have seen the content of her character.

Richard Grant | December 1, 2018 at 8:46 pm

She will win. All she has to do is yell:

“DAT BE RAYCISSSS”

And the White folk will run.

Even the Washington Post admitted that, at best, she’s totally incompetent.

    Snipes got her job from the same recruiter that hired moooochelle obama in chicago as a no-show hospital.administrator at 335,000 dollars per year.

    Maybe snipes can write a book that soros will buy millions of copies of to put in in the.same storage container as the mooochelle obama and hillary clinton books he’s had to buy to make them ‘bestsellers.’

Being black, with some sort of elevated education, was all she ever needed. Her “DOKTORATE” is a suitable tribute to all of those vacuous D.Ed. socialistic, polemicist mockeries of scholarship.

Uh uh. Rick ‘pussy’ Scott was hoping he would get away with a meaningless empty gesture for the cameras so he could then go on ignoring vote fraud.

Now he might ACTUALLY have to do something!

“as if there can never be a mistake made.”

—– Rolling out such a strawman is a good sign Snipes has no defense.

She said Broward voters “should be very concerned about our democracy,” after a Republican governor removed a Democratic elections supervisor in a heavily Democratic county.

—– After the sheer incompetence demonstrated by Snipes, they should be “concerned.” But we know she is trying to play the race card and get people to lower the ethical and competency standards for Snipes because of her race (which would be an insulting and racist act.)

SOE job one….ability to add. She lacks this important skill needed to count. No Brenda, we should not count every vote legal or otherwise.

She is wanting to make sure her pension kicks in. Just like the criminal Andrew McCabe and the treasonous Strzok.

PersonofInterests | December 2, 2018 at 8:50 am

Indict this lousy POS and take her pension away when she’s found guilty and sent to prison for her punishment.

Trouble is that she’s just the tip of iceberg in “Coward” County given that she had no concern about the Public seeing what she was doing; wore her corruption on her sleeve like a medal.

A box of ballots found in a car rental at Ft. Lauderdale when one of her workers returned the car and failed to dispose of the box; videos of private cars moving boxes of ballots to an Enterprise rental truck that was reportedly departed with no Chain of Custody regime being observed; and a sworn affadavit by one of her workers that other workers were filling out blank ballots to wit that honest worker, was fired.

C’mon !!! Brenda Snipes is so arrogant and flaunting of her corruption and dishonesty that she is begging for an orange jumpsuit and she needs to get it OR THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN.

PersonofInterests | December 2, 2018 at 8:58 am

Follow the money. Brenda Snipes like all corrupt communists are cheap and so, who is paying Burnadette Norris-Weeks, Snipes’ contracted attorney? Could it be one of the anarchy groups owned by a certain Nazi Quisling Billionaire admitted atheist commie who seems to always be in the neighborhood whether it is a Central American Caravan or another Cloward-Piven/Alinsky Strategy event?

Civil rights violations, gerrymandering the vote, through incompetence or bigotry?

This is all much ado about nothing.

Snipes resigns, effective in approximately 6 weeks. Fine. She does it in such a way that the current Governor can not appoint her successor. This is nothing more than a thumb in the eye of Scott. So Scott goes ahead and suspends her for gross misconduct and appoints a successor. This is within his power as Governor. Now, as Snipes actually has little or nothing to do, as Supervisor of Elections, for the next year, having her in office until January 4, 2019, serves no real purpose, for Snipes or Broward County. But, with her suspension, for cause, legal questions arise surrounding her pension from her time as SOE. And, that is the sole reason for her recent action to rescind her retirement.

A mere suspension from her office should only delay the start of her pension benefits, accrued as the SOE, under Florida law. A conviction for a felony or for some restricted practices such as dishonesty in office, or her official duties, is required to deny or rescind a pension. Even though it would be relatively simple to prove a case of nonfeasance or even misfeasance, which would satisfy the requirements to suspend and possibly remove her from office, it is not clear that the State would file such charges or actively pursue them. Politically, it is more likely that any investigation would have been dropped upon the effective date of her retirement.

So, look for more posturing from the parties involved here. But, none of it will be of any significant import, as political considerations will seek to maintain the status quo.