Tim Canova ran against Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the 2016 primary. After the election, Canova wanted to examine thousands of paper ballots but was told that they had been destroyed. That broke state and federal laws.
Florida’s law states that paper ballots cannot be destroyed until 22 months after an election or with a signed order from a judge. Supervisor Brenda Snipes did neither. Canova had requested to be able to copy the ballots for examination. Snipes said it doesn’t matter because they made high resolution copies of the ballots but anyone with a computer knows how easy it is to change such a document.
Canova had sued Broward County and Snipes and the judge ruled in Canova’s favor. There is no count yet released on how many ballots were destroyed but Schultz won by less than 7,000 votes. Even more damning i that the ballots were destroyed AFTER Canova asked to make copies. Democrats have a nasty habit of doing things like that. Yet not one has ever been arrested and tried for obstruction of justice. The used their liberal privilege to avoid prosecution.
Snipes signed a Sept. 1 document to destroy the ballots, without informing Canova or the court. Snipes contends her office made high-quality copies of the ballots.Paper ballots should have been preserved by the office until 22 months after the election, according to longstanding federal election law and state public records law. Under state law, a public record sought in a court case is not permitted to be destroyed without a judge’s order.
Canova argued Scott should suspend Snipes for destroying the paper ballots while his lawsuit was ongoing.
Broward Circuit Judge Raag Singhal agreed with Canova, ruling that Snipes ignored and illegally obstructed his request to copy and inspect the ballots. Florida’s Secretary of State plans to send an elections expert to Broward, the state’s second-largest county, during the upcoming elections to monitor the administration of upcoming elections in the county and “ensure that all laws are followed.”
The Department of Homeland Security also plans to monitor the election closely.