Broward County’s election recount was invalidated yesterday, after missing the 3 p.m. deadline by two minutes.
Instead, the original vote count from Tuesday night’s election will stand, and Rick Scott’s Senate campaign is placing blame on infamous Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes.
The Scott campaign is alleging that Snipes intentionally submitted the results late, so they would be invalidated. Scott’s opponent, Sen. Bill Nelson lost more votes than Scott in the recount–this would have led to a net gain of 779 votes for Scott if the recount results were allowed to stand.
The news comes just days after a defiant Snipes told reporters, “We will complete the recount. There has never been a deadline we have missed.”
WATCH: 'We will complete the recount. There has never been a deadline we have missed': Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes
. @joanmurraycbs4 reports tonight at 5. https://t.co/fGdzpTTcdB @BrowardVotes pic.twitter.com/YLQ9n3O1Dn— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) November 13, 2018
Snipes has a history of losing ballots, destroying ballots, and allowing felons and illegal immigrants to vote, leading many–including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (who appointed her to the position of elections supervisor)–calling for her resignation.
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.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) November 12, 2018
Across the state of Florida, of the 8.2 million votes recounted, Scott picked up 865, bringing his lead over Nelson to 13,427. Because Scott’s lead is less than .25 percent, the race will go on to the state-mandated hand recount, which must be completed by Sunday at noon. The only way to avoid the recount is if Nelson concedes, and it doesn’t appear he will do so.
Scott called on Nelson to concede yesterday in a statement which reads, ““Last week, Florida voters elected me as their next U.S. Senator and now the ballots have been counted twice. I am incredibly proud and humbled by the opportunity to serve Florida in Washington. We need to put this election behind us, and it is time for Bill Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes, which will yield the same result, and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served.”
