Florida | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 31
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Florida Tag

Outgoing Broward County Supervisor of Elections has vowed to fight in court after Gov. Rick Scott suspended her "due to misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty." A report from The Tampa Bay Times may not help Snipes since a Broward County self-evaluation shows during the election, the county had problem after problem like mechanical errors, staffing shortages, and procedural violations.

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.

Brenda Snipes, the Broward County Election Supervisor, is credited with making Florida ballot counting a joke, once again. Republican Governor Rick Scott won the Senate race despite all the problems in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, where Bill Nelson closed the gap significantly after election day. Republican Ron DeSantis held off Andrew Gillum's post-election day surge as well, though it wasn't as close.

Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes submitted her resignation a few weeks ago after she faced criticism over how the county handled the vote counting on November 6. This latest election is not the only controversy she had during her tenure. It looks like she won't suffer much without her job because reports have come out that Snipes will receive over $130,000 in pensions. From Fox News:
Snipes, 75, already receives a pension of more than $58,000 from her time as an educator and is poised to collect another $71,000 for 15 years as an elected official, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of Statewide Prosecution has opened up an investigation into the state's Democratic Party over allegations of election fraud. From WCTV:
Evidence reported to the Department of State suggests a possible effort by Democrats to have voters fix ballots after the state’s deadline in at least four counties. Cure forms for mail ballots sent to voters by the party show the return date changed from the day before the election to two days afterwards.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has conceded to Florida Governor Rick Scott (R).  Scott will become Florida's junior senator, making this the first time in over a century that Florida has had two Republican senators.  This flipped Senate seat will also strengthen the Republican majority in the Senate to 52-48.  Prior to the midterms, the GOP held a slightly slimmer majority of 51-49. Scott announced that Nelson, who has held public office since 1972, conceded in a phone call Sunday after the second mandatory recount showed Scott leading by approximately 10,000 votes.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker upheld Florida law that "forbids county election offices from counting vote-by-mail ballots received after 7 p.m. Election Day." This was the last best hope for Democrats after suffering several setbacks in recent days, including Florida Governor Rick Scott gaining over 800 votes in the mandatory recount, yet as of this writing Nelson has yet to concede.

More than a week after the election and we finally have a winner in Florida's Governor race -- Republican Ron DeSantis was declared the winner by enough of a margin to stave off a hand recount. The results won't be certified until next week, which is a little concerning given the shenanigans we've seen during the recount process.

The Florida recount drama continues as Palm County Beach missed the 3PM ET deadline due to faulty machines. Broward County managed to make the deadline at the last minute. Florida has posted the results. It looks like Republican Ron DeSantis will win over Democrat Andrew Gillum, who refuses to concede. The race between incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott fell at the 0.15% margin so the state has ordered a hand recount.