Rick Scott Suspends Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes; Appoints Replacement
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – Florida Governor Rick Scott has suspended Broward County Voting Supervisor Dr. Brenda Snipes.
Scott, who won a Senate seat after an election recount earlier this month, issued an executive order on Friday to immediately suspend Snipes, who had already announced that she would be resigning in early January.
Snipes' resignation came almost immediately after the conclusion of the election recount that had Broward County in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons, including slow vote counting.
"Every eligible voter in Florida deserves their vote to be counted and should have confidence in Florida's elections process," Scott said in a statement. "After a series of inexcusable actions, it's clear that there needs to be an immediate change in Broward County and taxpayers should no longer be burdened by paying a salary for a Supervisor of Elections who has already announced resignation."
Peter Antonacci will serve as Broward Elections Supervisor for the remainder of the term, which lasts until the next round of elections in November of 2020.
Antonacci currently serves as the President and CEO of Enterprise Florida. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District and as General Counsel for Governor Scott.
Previously, Antonacci served as State Attorney in Palm Beach County.
Since Election Day, Snipes and her office faced strong criticism for not releasing public records, being one of the last counties to finish counting ballots, and recently admitting more than 2,000 ballots were misplaced.
Snipes, 75, was appointed to the position in 2003 by then-Governor of Florida Jeb Bush.
She was elected to a full term the following year, and then she was re-elected in 2008, 2012 and 2016.