BREAKING: After Humiliating Election Troubles, Broward County Supervisor of Elections Resigns

By Sarah Rumpf | 10:05 PM on November 18, 2018

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Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, right, shows a ballot box that was found in a rental car after the elections and turned out to only contain election day supplies, as election employees sort ballots and prepare to count them, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018, in Lauderhill, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Breaking news Sunday night: just hours after the conclusion of an election recount that threw Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes into a national media spotlight for all the worst reasons, Snipes is resigning from office.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel broke the story, reporting that Bernadette Norris-Weeks, legal counsel for the Supervisor of Elections office, confirmed that Snipes did submit her letter of resignation earlier today. Norris-Weeks stated she had reviewed an early draft of the letter, and told Sun Sentinel reporter Anthony Man that Snipes, age 75, explained that she wanted to spend more time with her family.

It’s not clear the precise date when Snipes’ resignation will be effective. Conflicting sources told the Sun Sentinel either January 2 or January 5.

Depending on what exact date Snipes designated, one of three different Republicans will have the power to select her replacement.

As I noted in a previous article, current Gov. Rick Scott will have to resign no later than January 3 in order to be sworn into the U.S. Senate, and current Lieutenant Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera will hold the office for five days, through the scheduled swearing-in date of January 8 for Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis.

Snipes first started as the Broward Supervisor of Elections in 2003, after former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) removed her predecessor for incompetence and appointed her to take over.

Unfortunately for the people of Broward County and anyone who respects the rule of law and good governance, Snipes’ term produced a long list of troubles, from court rulings admonishing her for illegally destroying ballots from the 2016 primary election, to failure to mail 58,000 requested absentee ballots to voters, to a multitude of missteps during the 2018 election and recounts, including 2,040 “lost or misplaced” ballots and repeated missed deadlines.

Now if we could just get Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel to follow her example…

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Cross-posted at The Capitolist.