Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Vote counting drags on amid protests
National attention is once again on Broward, Palm Beach counties
Claims of fraud, angry protests and courtroom skirmishes spread Friday as vote counting dragged on in Broward and Palm Beach counties, drawing the nation’s ridicule back to Florida with shades of the infamous 2000 presidential recount.
Fueled by tweets from President Donald Trump, dozens of protesters stormed Broward County elections office, directing a chant of “lock her up” at Brenda Snipes, the county’s supervisor of elections. Demonstrators in Palm Beach County demanded that every vote be counted.
Facing a deadline of noon Saturday to submit the first unofficial results, canvassing board members continued
to scrutinize provisional ballots well into the evening.
As of Friday night, an undetermined number of ballots remained to be counted in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Palm Beach County elections chief Susan Bucher said her county’s canvassing board could have the first unofficial votes in late Friday night, slightly ahead of the deadline.
The stakes are high with three statewide races likely headed for recounts.
In the closely watched race for U.S. Senate, Scott led Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by 14,855 votes as of Friday night, a margin close enough to trigger a hand recount. The governor’s contest is close enough to warrant a machine recount with Republican Ron DeSantis holding a 36,002-vote lead over Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum. In the race for agriculture commissioner, Democrat Nikki Fried led Republican Matt Caldwell by 3,120 votes.
Machine recounts could start as early as Sunday morning and must be finished by Thursday. The deadline to complete a hand recount is Nov. 18, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Unsubstantiated claims of fraud
Three days after Election Day, the Senate candidates continued to clash in the bitter partisan fight. Scott delivered a speech Thursday night at the governor’s mansion, calling for state police to investigate potential “rampant fraud” with the counting of ballots in the Democratic strongholds of Palm Beach and Broward counties. He accused “unethical liberals” of trying to steal the election.
Despite that speech, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement hasn’t received reports of voter fraud from the Secretary of State’s Office, and the agency has not received a written request from Scott to investigate, said Jessica Cary, an FDLE spokeswoman.
In his first public remarks since the election, Nelson accused Scott of trying “to stop a complete and accurate counting of all the votes.”
“I won’t stand for anyone using his position to undermine our democratic process, and neither should the people of Florida,” he said. “It’s wrong and it goes against every value that we have in our country.”
Scott’s claims struck a nerve with protesters.
About 75 Republican supporters chanted “lock her up,” “bye, bye Brenda” and “stop the steal.”
"They're putting ballots in and signing ballots that don't exist," said Jodi Sandak of Boynton Beach, a member of Americans for Trump Broward Chapter, who held a sign with a picture of Snipes under the heading Supervisor of Corruption.
At the canvassing boards, party observers watched as provisional ballots were scrutinized.
With every vote being crucial, observers from the Nelson and Gillum campaigns objected whenever the Palm Beach canvassing board rejected a ballot that was cast by a voter in the wrong precinct.
Bucher, Palm Beach County’s elections head, fired back against claims of fraud.
“It’s unfortunate that some of the highest elected officials are trying to disrupt our democracy because they don’t like the demographics of our voters,” she said.
She added, “The demographics of our county – they don’t like them, and you know why.”
Legal fight brewing
Both sides are digging in for a protracted legal battle.
A judge sided Friday with Scott in a lawsuit against Broward County’s elections supervisor. Broward Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips gave Snipes until 7 p.m. Friday to turn over public records of voting activity sought by Scott’s Senate campaign.
Snipes also must share documents that show the number of ballots cast, the number of ballots counted and how many are still to be counted, all requests made in Scott’s complaint.
“This court finds once again Broward County is under the microscope and being viewed by the entire nation,” Phillips said. “Hearing argument, this court finds that there has been a violation of the Florida Constitution, the Florida statute public records act and pursuant to the applicable case law.”
In Palm Beach County, Scott’s campaign alleged Bucher did not allow outside witnesses to watch elections staff duplicate ballots that couldn’t be fed through machines because they had been damaged or not filled out properly. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx ordered on Friday that any disqualified ballots will need to be reviewed by the county’s canvassing board. The judge also ordered the release of the names of voters who cast provisional ballots.
Nelson’s campaign is suing Secretary of State Ken Detzner, accusing election officials of disenfranchising voters by discarding absentee and provisional ballots where the signatures don’t appear to match.
Marc Elias, lead recount attorney for Nelson, said election officials are using their “untrained opinions” on handwriting to discard votes. He said Scott’s calls for the FDLE to investigate elections officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties crossed a line.
Elias said he thinks that Nelson will be ahead when the recount is completed and that Scott’s comments reflect a candidate who is fearful.
“This is not a third world dictatorship," he said. "We don’t let people seize ballots when they think they’re losing."
Scott is touting his own legal firepower.
He tweeted Friday morning that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has retained the law firm Gibson Dunn — veterans of the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential contest in favor of George W. Bush.