Snipes: ‘It is time to move on’
Broward elections chief could leave post amid criticism from Jeb Bush, others
Facing mounting criticism across the country and all the way to the White House, Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes said Tuesday that “it is time to move on” from her time in office.
“I think at this point she should probably think about retiring,” said county Commissioner Michael Udine. “She shouldn’t run the next election.”
Snipes’ statement came in response to a question about Jeb Bush, who originally appointed Snipes to the post in 2003 to fill the remainder of the term in office of Miriam Oliphant. Bush, as governor, had removed Oliphant for what he termed “incompetence” and “misfeasance” following the botched 2002 election, which saw polls open late and close early, among other snafus.
But on Monday, Bush wrote on Twitter, “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. Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts.”
Asked about that tweet, Snipes, 75, responded, “He did post me here for a year and then I liked it and so I ran and I was re-elected four times. 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.”
Snipes’ time in office has been frequently marred by election issues in Broward, including tens of thousands of mail-in ballots not being delivered one year — causing an emergency rush to send out replacements — to slightly less than a thousand uncounted ballots found in another election. This year, Broward was still counting votes close to the deadline to report to the state.
Asked specifically whether she would run for re-election in 2020, Snipes responded, “I haven’t finalized that. I’ll just check with my family they’ll tell me what I’m doing.”
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.
Other Republican officials echoed Bush’s statement that Snipes should go after the recount is complete, to give the next supervisor time to prepare for the 2020 election.
“I don’t believe she’s done anything criminal, but the fact that these things go on year after year and we never address the root cause is a problem,” said former state Rep. George Moraitis, the current chairman of the Broward Republican Party. “She should be encouraged to resign at this point. There’s been so many occasions now of problems. Our county means a lot to the state, even to the entire country, and we need someone who can manage the election. You can’t just let problems happen to you without being prepared.”
Moraitis said he had “not heard anything about any attempts to remove her from office,” including whether it could come from Gov. Rick Scott immediately after the recounts, or after Ron DeSantis presumably takes over the governor’s mansion in January. DeSantis’ governor’s race is currently one of three statewide races undergoing a mandatory recount, though he leads Democrat Andrew Gillum by more than 33,000 votes.