Florida elections supervisor Brenda Snipes resigns amid heavy criticism

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections in Broward County, Fla., who was at the center of the county's recount controversy, has resigned her position.

In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott Sunday, Snipes said she's "ready to pass the torch" after four terms as elections supervisor in the state's most heavily-Democratic county.

Snipes' resignation came hours after a two-week recount for Florida's gubernatorial, senatorial and agricultural commissioner races.

County officials misplaced 2,000 ballots during the recount, inadvertently mixed about two dozen invalid ballots with about 200 legitimate ballots and missed a deadline last week to submit machine recount results to Florida's Department of State.

Republican protesters accused her of rigging the elections -- and former Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed Snipes in 2003, called for her removal.

Republican attorneys accused Snipes of improper procedure during the 2016 presidential election, and a judge later reprimanded her for prematurely destroying ballots after a congressional race. A marijuana ballot question was left off some ballots in the election that year, and Snipes was criticized for illegally releasing vote totals before polls closed on the night of the election.

In state primaries earlier this year, some said her department was slow in releasing results. Before election day on Nov. 6, the department took days to process early and absentee ballots, leading to the mandated machine recounts.

When her office continued to process tens of thousands of ballots in the two days that followed election day, she offered no explanation. Critics say she turned over public voting information only after Scott sued her in state court and a judge agreed.

Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera or Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis will appoint a new elections supervisor to take over in Broward County -- as Snipes' resignation isn't effective until Jan. 4. Scott will take over Sen. Bill Nelson's Senate seat on Jan. 3. DeSantis will take office Jan. 8.

Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties were the focus of a statewide recount effort to settle the close races for Senate and governor, as they are the most populous counties in the state and the most heavily Democratic.