Brenda Snipes received about the closest thing to an apology she’s likely to get from Florida’s governor, when Ron DeSantis on Friday rescinded his predecessor’s suspension of the former Broward County elections supervisor. But that doesn’t mean she’s getting her job back. In an executive order, DeSantis voided a Nov. 30 directive issued by former Gov. Rick Scott removing Snipes from office. DeSantis said he was instead accepting the Jan. 4 resignation that Snipes had submitted on the final day of a controversial midterm election recount, granting her the soft exit she’d wanted (albeit without the quiet goodbye).
The move, made on the same day that DeSantis announced he was suspending Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher, was not made in deference to Snipes. DeSantis has been highly critical of Broward’s veteran elected supervisor, and went out of his way during his inauguration speech to criticize the mistakes that characterized her final days in office.
Rather, it was a legal calculation intended to render moot a lawsuit that Snipes filed contesting her ouster. Last week, a federal judge in Tallahassee ruled that Snipes was wronged by Scott because she was suspended from office in a way that left her unable to challenge his allegations of neglect and incompetence.
Full Article: DeSantis rescinds Rick Scott’s suspension of Brenda Snipes | Miami Herald.