Broward and Palm Beach are two of the largest counties in Florida, and also happen to be the deepest blue in the state. In 2018, the Supervisors of Elections for both counties begged the state for updated voting equipment and resources, requests that the Republican-majority legislature ignored. Then-Gov. Rick Scott was quick to help Republican (mostly white) counties for his own benefit, and only those counties.
Problems inevitably arose in the close election, and Scott, in his final order as governor, fired Brenda Snipes, the Broward County’s Democratic supervisor of elections, for “malfeasance,” and installed his shady right-wing ally Peter Antonacci.
Antonacci could never have won an election in Broward, much less one for supervisor of elections. Yet Scott appointed him to oversee the most consequential presidential election in the state’s largest Democratic county next year. The supervisor of elections is a critical role that determines the number of early-voting sites, sets staffing levels for each precinct, and is responsible for implementing Amendment 4, the GOP-assaulted amendment that restores most former felons their right to vote.
A U.S. district court found that Scott had overstepped his authority and that the timing of Snipes’ removal was suspicious because it left her without the ability to challenge her ouster or contest any allegation levied by Scott’s executive order. Scott attacked the judge as a “liberal,” and Antonacci remains.
For anyone hoping this partisan hack would somehow step up to the plate and try to run a fair election, it’s not looking good.
Active voters in Broward County were sent “Final Notices” threatening to reclassify them as inactive voters. Others were questioned about their addresses, despite the fact that some had lived in the same location for decades. The mailers also fail to mention that being labeled an inactive voter doesn’t mean a person can’t vote. Voters are supposed to only be removed from the rolls if they fail to vote in two consecutive federal elections, and even then, they can be reinstated.
But presenting the facts wasn't the point of the mailers.
Unfortunately, Florida’s new Trump-fanatic governor, Ron DeSantis, watched what Scott did and figured he could do the exact same thing. DeSantis forcibly removed the Democratic elected supervisor of elections for Palm Beach, the second largest Democratic county, and, echoing Scott, cited "malfeasance" as the reason, despite the fact that Susan Bucher had had a stellar career. However, Bucher had missed 2018 recount deadlines due to a combination of crap equipment and thousands of absentee ballots arriving on Election Day.
To say this was a partisan move would be an understatement. Further, with zero regard for the electorate, DeSantis installed a former county GOP chair and right-wing tea party favorite Christine Spain. Spain has challenged Bucher before, and got extraordinarily crushed, 77-23. Like Antonacci, Spain never would have been elected to such a position in a Democratic county. But in GOP-land, democratic elections don't seem to matter: Anyone who can’t win can just be installed.
Democrats have rightfully labeled these actions politically motivated and a “gross overreach of power,” but against a GOP governor, a GOP-stacked court, and a GOP-dominated legislature, there was little they could do. As 2020 looms, Floridians are faced with extremist Republicans running the elections in the largest Democratic strongholds in Florida, and they are just starting to test the limits of what they can do. The GOP can’t win fairly, which is why it’s deployed multiple voter suppression laws in recent years, and isn’t above overturning elections.
We—not just Floridians, but the entire nation—must remain vigilant.