With key races pending, protesters gather outside of Broward elections headquarters

Broward canvassing board to resume counting at 10 a.m., Saturday

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Days after Tuesday's midterm elections, three high-profile races don’t have clear victors, and frustration was growing outside of the Broward County supervisor of elections office in Lauderhill on Friday night. 

Dozens of protesters identifying as both Democrats and Republicans waited outside for updates. Some of President Donald Trump's supporters traveled to Broward, a Democratic-leaning county, to demand that Snipes be removed from office. 

Republicans' shouts of "lock her up!" were directed to Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, who faces several lawsuits from candidates facing the possibility of a recount. A woman was holding up a "Supervisor of Corruption" sign. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Pelssinger said Friday that the agency is working with the Department of State and will investigate any allegations of elections fraud, but right now there are no such allegations.

Lauderhill police officers surrounded the Broward office and kept protesters from getting close to the front door. Rep. Matt Gaetz was also rallying in the crowd. Inside, Snipes was working under pressure to meet a Saturday deadline.

The canvassing-board met to review the last 205 provisional ballots and recessed about 10:30 p.m. They planned to resume counting at 10 a.m., on Saturday. 

At court in Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, her lawyers were responding to Gov. Rick Scott's lawsuits asking the court to order Snipes to turn over several records.   

Snipes' attorneys argued in front of Broward Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips saying Scott's requests were meant to interfere with her efforts to finish counting the ballots in Broward. Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher's attorneys argued against Scott's lawsuit in front of Palm Beach Circuit Judge Krista Marx. 

Both judges sided with Scott. Marx set a 7 p.m. deadline for Snipes to turn over the voter information. But she couldn't meet it

Under Florida law, a recount is mandatory if the winning candidate’s margin is less than 0.5 percentage points. The campaigns of Democrats Andrew Gillum, who ran for Florida governor against Republican Ron DeSantis, and Sen. Bill Nelson, who ran against Scott, were preparing for a possible recount.

Nelson said Scott is afraid and on a mission to impeded the democratic process by alleging Snipes is committing fraud. 

"votes are not being found; they’re being counted," Nelson said. 

Snipes must report the unofficial results at Noon on Saturday. 

MIDTERM ELECTION DATES

Nov. 10: Unofficial results are due by 12 p.m. 

Nov. 15: Machine recounts are due by 3 p.m. 

Nov. 16: Military/overseas counted

Nov. 18: Hand recount due by 12 p.m. 

Nov. 20: Results are certified

HOW TO CHECK ON YOUR VOTE

In-person ballot: Broward voters can check here >

Mail-in ballot: Voters can check their status here >

 


About the Authors
Christian De La Rosa headshot

Christian De La Rosa joined Local 10 News in April 2017 after spending time as a reporter and anchor in Atlanta, San Diego, Orlando and Panama City Beach.

Janine Stanwood headshot

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

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