As the midterm vote count tightens in the Senate race between sitting Governor Rick Scott and his Democratic challenger and incumbent in the Senate, Bill Nelson, allegations of foul play are being lobbed by the GOP, who thought they had this one won.
POLITICO’s Bureau Chief Matt Dixon tweeted:
Gov. Rick Scott, in his role as Senate candidate, last night asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate local election offices. FDLE said it would. On Friday, though, it found no allegations of voter fraud. There is no investigation
https://t.co/iL2xuprDlo— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) November 9, 2018
A few things to keep in mind. No active fraud allegations now, do not mean there will be none later.
And FDLE did ask state election officials about this this. Those election officials are the ones who said they knew of no voter fraud allegations. That’s what changed today
— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) November 9, 2018
FDLE reports to Scott and the 3-person Florida Cabinet. This is not an agency in the executive branch, but I don’t remember a time when any agency in state government directly refuted Scott so publicly
Generally it’s no answers, or trying to walk a fine line to stick with Scott
— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) November 9, 2018
According to POLITICO:
‘During an event organized by his U.S. Senate campaign Thursday night, Scott asked FDLE to investigate Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. Those two counties have come under heat from Republicans because after Scott, GOP gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis and Republican Agriculture Commissioner candidate Matt Caldwell led their Democratic opponents after election night, their leads have narrowed as the two Democratic stronghold counties continued to find votes.’
This extended process is not unusual. In fact, it’s state law.
‘State law allows local election officials to continue the vote counting process until Saturday. At that point, there is expected to be recounts called in the Senate race, governor’s race and Agriculture Commissioner race. The Senate race has gotten most of the attention, in part, because of Scott’s call for an investigation and the fact that he has filed public records lawsuits against both Palm Beach County and Broward County election offices.’
To sum up the weight of what this means, the governor of Florida demanded that police investigate two private citizens for a crime that no one has alleged and that no indication or proof exists to justify an investigation. He’s angry that the tightening vote may trigger a recount, which at less than a 0.2 percent gap between the candidates is all but inevitable, and wants the counting of provisional and absentee ballots to end.
He wants a free and fair election process stopped while he’s ahead. This is a man who, if he comes out on top, will be tasked with deciding on laws in the highest legislative branch in the land.
The FDLE, however, is not going to comply.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
