Florida Judge Says No Evidence Of Voter Fraud Despite Allegations From Republicans
Florida Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter ruled that there is no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County. Governor Rick Scott and President Donald Trump have both attacked the elections in the state, claiming – seemingly without evidence – that voter fraud has taken place in the county. Tuter cautioned both sides to “ramp down the rhetoric” in order to ensure that voters can continue to have faith in the integrity of the electoral system, according to Axios.
As part of an effort to that end, Tuter suggested placing additional law enforcement officers at the Broward County election offices, where votes are currently being counted. Both sides agreed to this measure, and three additional officers will be put in place at Brenda Snipes office.
Additionally, the campaign for Senator Bill Nelson sued the Florida Department of State in an effort to get ballots counted that were mailed but not delivered in time to be counted in the election. Marc Elias, attorney for the campaign, said that he believes all votes should be counted that were sent by the deadline, and those votes shouldn’t be disenfranchised due to delivery delays beyond their control.
“Florida’s 7 p.m. Election Day receipt deadline for vote by mail ballots burdens the right to vote of eligible voters,” the suit said.
A representative for opponent Governor Rick Scott’s campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous and laughable.”
Scott and President Trump have both attacked the Florida recount as a fraud. Scott has asked that all voting machines and ballots be impounded by law enforcement when not actively being used in the recount, which started on Saturday. Judge Tuter found against the request.
Trump, for his part, has continued to lobby accusations at both the Florida and Arizona elections, alleging without evidence that fraud has mired the process. He has said that new ballots “showed up out of nowhere,” though there has been no evidence that this is the case. The statement appears to stem from the fact that Broward County votes took longer to tally than other areas, or from the reportedly debunked story that ballots were found by a teacher in Broward County.
“The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!” he wrote on Twitter.
Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018
Trump also tweeted about the supposedly debunked story of “lost” ballots in Florida, touted by Marco Rubio, when a box marked for provisional ballots was located in a school in Broward County. The box actually held supplies, and no ballots were found inside.
Thank you @marcorubio for helping to expose the potential corruption going on with respect to Election Theft in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The WORLD is now watching closely!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018
