Rick Scott for Senate v. Brenda C. Snipes and Broward County Canvassing Board

On November 13, the Brennan Center filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Florida to ensure every valid ballot cast in Broward County, Florida is counted.

Published: November 13, 2018

On November 13, the Brennan Center filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Florida to ensure every valid ballot cast in Broward County, Florida is counted.

Background

After the November 6 election, Florida Senate candidate Rick Scott filed a lawsuit against Broward County, seeking to prevent the county from counting ballots that were valid and submitted on time by voters, but that the county had not canvassed by the Nov. 10 deadline for the “first unofficial count.” The League seeks to intervene to ensure that valid ballots are counted, rather than rejected based on a misinterpretation of Florida law. The November 10 deadline is not the last opportunity to count ballots; rather, valid ballots that were not included in the initial count may be added to the post-recount returns submitted on November 15 and 18. Scott wrongly claims the county missed the Saturday deadline and ballots that were submitted on time by voters should not be counted. The Brennan Center and the League argue that this missed deadline should not put legitimate voters at risk of disenfranchisement. On November 15, the court denied Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction. The case was voluntarily dismissed on November 20, 2018.

In addition to the Brennan Center, the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Michael S. Olin of the law firm Buckner + Miles in Miami, and Michael J. Ryan of the law firm Krupnick Campbell Malone Buser Slama Hancock Liberman in Fort Lauderdale, are representing the League of Women Voters of Florida. The case was filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court in Florida.