Snipes asks for old job back

Ex-elections official seeks reversal of former Gov. Scott’s suspension

TALLAHASSEE — An attorney for former Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes asked a federal court judge Monday to reinstate Snipes, accusing Gov. Rick Scott of trying to “tar her” with false allegations of incompetence.

Burnadette Norris-Weeks disputed Scott’s list of alleged misdeeds in his executive order suspending Snipes, including that she released election results before polls closed and repeatedly failed to follow state election laws.

“We believe it was a targeted action on behalf of the governor to tar her and embarrass her,” NorrisWeeks said. “She’s respected throughout the state ... she’s somebody that other supervisors come to seek guidance.”

Judge Mark Walker did not immediately issue a ruling, but during a two-hour hearing pressed attorneys for both sides to defend their positions.

After Walker asked Scott attorney Dan Nordby what the “emergency” was to suspend Snipes, Nordby cited the upcoming Broward County municipal elections in March.

“The governor determined the people of Broward County deserved a supervisor of elections who can organize and prepare elections in a competent manner,” Nordby said. “Citizens of Broward County are voting soon and the public interest does not support [reinstating Snipes].”

Snipes was the subject of heated criticism after the November elections, as Broward’s delayed totals led to a trickle of votes from the Democrat-heavy county that narrowed the final results of the U.S. Senate and governor’s races.

Scott, who ultimately won the U.S. Senate race, held a news conference in the days following the election suggesting that residents should be concerned about widespread voter fraud in Broward.

Snipes’ term didn’t expire until 2020, but she opted to submit her resignation in late November, effective Jan. 4. That complicated the case because Scott suspended her anyway in December, replacing her with Pete Antonacci, his former general counsel. Snipes then attempted to withdraw her resignation and fight the suspension, filing the lawsuit in federal court.

Under state law, suspended officials get a hearing and a trial before the state Senate, which can vote to formally remove the official from office or reinstate them. But Senate lawyers argued that because Snipes resigned and because Scott already replaced her, she couldn’t withdraw her resignation, so they couldn’t conduct a hearing.

“The Senate doesn’t have the power to do some kind of reinstatement,” said Senate lawyer Jeremiah Hawkes.

But Norris-Weeks argued that Scott’s office and the Senate were passing the buck, leaving Snipes without due process to tell her side of the story.

“The fundamental requirement of due process is the right to be heard,” Norris-Weeks said.

Judge Walker, though, wanted

“The governor determined the people of Broward County deserved a supervisor of elections who can organize and prepare elections in a competent manner.”

Dan Nordby, attorney of Gov. Rick Scott

to know what such a hearing would look like, questioning whether he had the authority to order the Senate or the Governor’s Office, which will be taken over by Ron DeSantis at midnight Monday night, to conduct a hearing.

Snipes, 76, was first appointed to the Broward elections position in 2003 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush. She replaced Miriam Oliphant, whom Bush suspended for failing to follow state elections laws and properly run elections. The Florida Senate upheld the suspension by a 33-6 vote in 2005.

The case isn’t the first time Scott’s power to suspend a local elected official has been questioned.

In November, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that Scott and the Senate violated Jefferson County Clerk of Court Kirk Reams’ due process rights. Scott suspended Reams in October when he was arrested by the FDLE, which alleged he allowed his girlfriend to use his county computer and that he took nude photos of her inside the courthouse.

Scott reinstated Reams on Nov. 30.

Snipes