Front and center in the voting controversy in Florida this year has been Broward County and its supervisor of elections, Brenda Snipes.
A Talladega, Alabama-native, Snipes has held her position since 2003. And according to the Sun-Sentinel, she has a history of election faux pas and troubles, including:
- A court ruled she had broken election law when she destroyed ballots from the 2016 election 12 months after it, instead of the 22 months required by federal law.
- A medical marijuana amendment was left off some ballots in 2016.
- Election results in the 2016 primary were posted on the elections office’s website before polls closed, another violation of election law.
- In 2012, almost 1,000 uncounted ballots were discovered a week after the election
- In 2004, some 58,000 mail-in ballots were not delivered to voters, leaving election officials to scramble to send new ones.
Now, with the national spotlight shining yet again on Florida races too close to call and troubling issues in counting and re-counting votes, Snipes is yet again making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
On Friday she was guilty of violating both Florida’s public-records laws and the state’s constitution for not fulfilling a request for that information by Florida Gov. Rick Scott‘s campaign.
“This is not just the most troubled elections office in the state, it’s the most troubled elections office in the nation,” Sen. Marco Rubio told POLITICO saying Snipes ought to be removed from office.
“She has shown she’s incapable of conducting a large and important election in a way that inspires public confidence and trust,” Rubio added. “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.”
