Sun Sentinel: Broward County Elections Supervisor to Testify–Judge May Sanction Office

Published On: July 30th, 2017

The following was published in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel:

Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes will testify in federal court in Miami on Monday about allegations the county has a bloated voter list because her office isn’t doing enough to purge ineligible voters.

Snipes will be defending her office against a suit brought by the American Civil Rights Union, a conservative Virginia-based group that has been challenging voter registration lists nationwide. The nonprofit organization says it wants to make sure voter lists accurately reflect only eligible voters to reduce the potential for voter fraud.

The ACRU is asking U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom to order the county to step up its efforts to remove ineligible voters from the rolls, including non-citizens, dead people, felons and those who have moved or are mentally incapacitated. Critics fear the more aggressive approach the ACRU is advocating could knock many eligible voters off the rolls as well.

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Snipes’ attorney, Burnadette Norris-Weeks, came under fire after an office procedures manual she provided to the ACRU on Wednesday turned out to be missing a section.

Adams asked that the elections office be sanctioned and Bloom was clearly upset, but she deferred any decision on taking punitive action against the office.

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The manual is a big deal because the ACRU didn’t know it existed and its expert witness had testified the lack of written procedures was a significant issue. Norris-Weeks said she just learned of the manual over the weekend.