Embattled Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, who resigned her position effective in January, has rescinded her resignation following her immediate suspension by outgoing Governor Rick Scott.
Snipes resigned earlier in the week, saying she would stop down in January. On Friday, Scott suspended her for ” a series of inexcusable actions” during the recent recounts of the governor and Senate races. But Snipes, saying the suspension was “malicious,” vowed to “fight this to the end.”
Snipes has been the top elections official in the south Florida county since 2003 when then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her. She came under withering criticism for her handling of this year’s elections, as well as its legally required recount in close races for governor and U.S. Senate. She had been elected three times and her current term was not scheduled to end until 2020.
In his executive order, Scott said he was suspending Snipes due to misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty. His order cited problems during the recount, including reports of more than 2,000 ballots being misplaced. She also came under fire in 2017 after she destroyed year-old ballots in violation of law. Shortly after the recount started, Scott himself suggested possible fraud, but never offered any concrete examples.
Snipes was so incompetent it was hard to believe that she wasn’t committing fraud. Could anyone really be that stupid or was she crooked?
Missed deadlines, lost ballots, illegal ballots mixed in with legal ones, and a constantly increasing “official” ballot total, moving more than 80,000 votes from election night to 72 hours later.
In truth, there was no evidence of “fraud.” But an examination of her record in totality — including monumental problems in 2004 and 2016 — leads one to believe that Snipes’ gross incompetence threatened the integrity of the vote.
“We believe these actions are malicious,” said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, who said that Broward County voters should be concerned about what Scott is trying to do in the Democratic stronghold by putting in an ally who could oversee the office into the 2020 elections.
Snipes has been the top elections official in the south Florida county since 2003 when then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her. She came under withering criticism for her handling of this year’s elections, as well as its legally required recount in close races for governor and U.S. Senate. She had been elected three times and her current term was not scheduled to end until 2020.
Yes, she’s a black woman, but why is it always racism at work? The blatant incompetence of Snipes makes accusing critics of “racism” idiotic. She is demonstrably unfit for the job, has demonstrated such on numerous occasions over the years, and is a threat to the integrity of the electoral system she swore to enforce.
Scott’s firing may have been “malicious,” but hey, Brenda, that’s politics. As an elected official, she should realize that instead of screaming “racism” to distract people, she should take her medicine and slink off the stage for a well-deserved humiliating retirement.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member