With even former Gov. Jeb Bush now calling for her removal, Broward County supervisor of elections Brenda Snipes appears to be coming to terms with the notion that it’s “time to move on” after yet more botched handling of the counting process, sketchy behavior by her office, and a judge ruling that she has violated Florida laws.
“There is no question that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians’ confidence in our electoral process,” tweeted Bush, who isn’t given to leveling harsh criticism online. “Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts.”
Bush’s call for her ouster follows a judge agreeing with an emergency lawsuit filed against Snipes by Florida Gov. Rick Scott for failing to abide by Florida laws regarding transparency in the counting process. When Snipes was asked about Bush’s call for her to be removed after the recount wraps up, Snipes signaled that she knows her time is up.
“He did post me here for a year and then I liked it and so I ran and I was re-elected four times,” she said, the Sun-Sentinel reports. “But it is time to move on … I think I have served the purpose that I came here for, which was to provide a credible election product for our members.”
But while Snipes is being called on to resign — should Scott not choose to remove her for incompetence, or DeSantis, should he go on to win the election — her follow-up comments suggested she might not be willing to walk away from her $178,865 salary just yet.
“I haven’t finalized that,” she said in reference to running again in 2020. “I’ll just check with my family they’ll tell me what I’m doing.”
But the Sun-Sentinel stresses that, in the end, it might not be up to her:
That assumes Snipes, who makes $178,865 a year, would be allowed to finish out her term. Bush’s removal of Oliphant in 2003 was unusual — the governor ordinarily removes elected officials from office only if they have been arrested or charged with serious ethical violations, not over issues of competence. Nevertheless, that removal has set a precedent that a sitting elections chiefs can be removed by the governor for failing to do their jobs.
Heading into the recounts, Scott held a 12,500-vote margin over incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson for the U.S. Senate seat, while Republican Ron DeSantis held a 33,600-vote margin over Democrat Andrew Gillum. As The Daily Wire reported Tuesday, historical precedent for recounts indicates that both margins are insurmountable, the average change in vote tallies in similar elections amounting to just 311 votes:
With all the national attention on the two high-profile races, the Miami Herald looked back at previous recount elections in recent history and spoke to some experts to see what the odds of reversal might be. The outlet found some sobering numbers for Democrats. The declarations of victory by Scott and DeSantis and Fried, the Herald concludes, “may not be premature.” …
Citing the nonpartisan group FairVote, the outlet notes that between 2000 and 2016, out of the 4,687 statewide elections only 26 went to a recount — and the outcomes of only three of those 26 reversed. “The 2004 Washington governor’s race, the 2006 Vermont state auditor’s race and the 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate race. The average swing in those three elections after the recounts? About 311 votes.”
Related: Limbaugh: Democrats, Media Doing Exactly What We Predicted In Florida