Broward County Election Chief Resigns Amid Florida's Fraught Recount Effort

Brenda Snipes was a frequent target of the president, who claimed there were "bad things" going on in Broward County.
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Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections for Broward County, Florida, reportedly submitted her resignation on Sunday after a tumultuous two-week recount effort following this month’s midterms.

Snipes, 75, has overseen the region’s elections since she was appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) in 2003. But she became a frequent target of President Donald Trump and other Republicans during the 2018 election due to disappearing ballots, issues with sloppy signatures and a missed deadline to deliver recount results.

Her resignation was first reported by the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale and a representative later confirmed the news to NBC 6. Snipes’ team did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes signs a box during a ballot recount in Lauderhill, Florida, November 12.
Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes signs a box during a ballot recount in Lauderhill, Florida, November 12.
Carlo Allegri / Reuters

Two races in Florida were too close to call: the bid for the state’s governorship and for Sen. Bill Nelson’s (D) seat in Congress. Republicans ultimately won both of those races; Andrew Gillum (D) conceded the gubernatorial race to Ron DeSantis and Florida Gov. Rick Scott ousted Nelson.

The recount became a flashpoint for several weeks as officials scrambled to count votes across the state. Snipes drew fire after she said her office couldn’t find more than 2,000 ballots that were initially registered in Broward County but didn’t appear in the machine recount. She also faced the brunt of criticism when the state failed to upload recount data for hundreds of thousands of voters on time, missing a 3 p.m. deadline by just two minutes. The state did not accept the late numbers.

“If you look at the person, in this case, a woman, involved, she has had a horrible history, and all of the sudden they’re finding votes out of nowhere and Rick Scott, who won, you know it was close, who won by a comfortable margin, every couple of hours it goes down by a little bit,” Trump said during the recount. He later alleged, without evidence, that “bad things are going on in Broward County.”

Snipes defended the effort in her county, telling reporters at a press conference last week that Broward had received a “bigger spotlight” than other areas in the state.

“It is unfortunate that we’ve had some issues that have gotten continuous and expanded publicity,” Snipes said, noting that she had worked “tirelessly” for 15 years.

Her office had also had issues in the past. In 2004, Snipes said some 58,000 absentee ballots were misplaced. Two years later, officials illegally destroyed 6,000 ballots after a judge ordered them preserved, per NBC.

It’s unclear when she will officially leave her office.

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