Republicans Are Casting Doubt On Normal Election Processes For The Sake Of Winning

[homersapien 11,366]

This is correct.  Trump has no regard for process.  All he can consider is outcomes.  Exactly what you would predict for a narcissistic psychopath.

Scott - who should know better - is arguably even more guilty.

This is dangerous for our democracy. 

 

By characterizing basic safeguards as illegitimate, Rick Scott and President Trump are undermining democracy.

On Thursday night, two days after Election Day, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) stood on the steps of the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee and unleashed a nuclear bomb aimed at the very foundation of democracy. Scott suggested there was “rampant fraud” in the state. “No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C.” was going to steal the election from Floridians, the governor said.

When Scott made his comments, Florida hadn’t even hit the deadline to submit unofficial election results to the state. Scott asked the state’s law enforcement agency to investigate his allegations, but the agency quickly said there was nothing to investigate.

That hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump from continuing to insist that there was fraud in the state. There is no evidence of fraud to support his claim.

Scott’s election night lead over Nelson has shrunk significantly, and the margin is now so slim that the state is in the midst of a legally required recount. But election experts say there’s nothing unusual or nefarious about vote tallies changing days after an election. Instead of letting election officials count the ballots as usual, the comments from Scott and Trump amount to an effort to undermine normal election processes.

Steven Huefner, a law professor at Ohio State University, wrote that it was “beyond unseemly” and “downright destructive of public trust in our elections” for election officials to attribute changing vote totals to nefarious actions.

Florida allows voters to cast ballots by mail and accepts them until 7 p.m. on Election Day. Election officials then have to verify signatures on the ballots in addition to determining whether provisional ballots cast on Election Day can count. That process can take time, which is why Florida and other states give counties time to conduct what’s called a canvass and review the votes. In Florida, the deadline for counties to submit unofficial results to the state was Saturday and the deadline for official results is Nov. 18.

“Results on election night, it’s actually never been final on election night. Ever in the history of our country. There’s always been this continuation of calculating the results and all that,” said Amber McReynolds, the former top elections official in Denver who is now the executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, a group that advocates for voting by mail. “This is not new. Florida’s doing exactly what other states are doing right now. California has even more to count. But in California, there’s not a Republican that might win, so it’s not getting any attention.”....................

Read the rest at:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-recount-voter-fraud_us_5bea0432e4b044bbb1a7927c

 

[homersapien 11,366]

Republicans fan worries about voter fraud in Florida and other close contests

 

By Beth Reinhard ,

Sean Sullivan and

Amy Gardner

November 12 at 8:52 PM

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Republicans are sowing skepticism about the electoral process in states with votes that are too close to call, echoing President Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and suggesting that election officials should jettison the common practice of completing vote counts after Election Day.

Nowhere is the effort more aggressive than in Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott is tapping the powers of his administration to defend his slender lead in the U.S. Senate race and accusing Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of “trying to steal an election.” Without evidence, Trump on Twitter claimed ballots were “massively infected” in Florida and said the recount should halt — though it is mandated by state law and overseas military ballots aren’t due until Friday. 

What appears to be a coordinated Republican strategy to undercut post-election vote counting is also evident in New Mexico, where Rep. Yvette Herrell (R) is refusing to concede her race to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small after absentee ballots changed her status from winner to loser, and in Arizona, where the National Republican Senatorial Committee contended a county election official had been “using his position to cook the books” for Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

Combined with accusations of voter suppression in the Georgia governor’s race, public faith in the electoral system is being put to the test.

“These public announcements are doing nothing but hyping the hysteria and lessening the credibility of our elections process and, by extension, democracy itself,” said Ion Sancho, a prominent retired elections official and political independent from Leon County, Fla.

Questions about the integrity of the elections system have cropped up in recent years as a number of states have passed laws that Republicans say weed out illegal voters and Democrats say disenfranchise eligible ones. Before his election, Trump claimed that the 2016 vote would be “rigged,” but as president he has dismissed evidence that Russians tried to influence the outcome.

This year’s midterm elections have unleashed a new level of vitriol over the results in certain closely fought races — particularly where late ballot counts have shrunk the lead of the Republican. These slower counts, which for the most part have occurred in large, predominantly Democratic counties, have produced new votes for Republicans, too — albeit fewer than for Democrats in the blue strongholds where the counting has taken the longest.

In Arizona, Sinema was slightly behind Rep. Martha McSally (R) on election night in the race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R). But as officials there continued to count ballots, she sprang into the lead. On Monday, the Associated Press declared Sinema the winner, with 38,197 more votes than McSally.

In Florida, Scott’s lead over Nelson has narrowed to 12,562 votes out of more than 8 million ballots cast, or a margin of 0.15 percent, according to an unofficial tally Saturday. State law mandates a machine recount if the margin is half a percentage point or smaller and a manual recount if the margin is a quarter of a point or smaller. Counties are racing to meet a Thursday deadline to finish the machine recount.

Some Republicans have defended Trump’s and Scott’s heated language.

“The rhetoric of Trump and Gov. Scott is warranted because candidates and voters have a right to know how election officials are conducting business,” said Dan Eberhart, a fundraiser for Scott and former Florida congressman Ron DeSantis. “Trump’s severe rhetoric draws attention to blatant failures in the system.”

Scott has called on state law enforcement to investigate heavily Democratic Broward and Palm Beach counties, citing potential vote-counting confusion but providing no evidence of outright fraud. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a fellow Republican, echoed the governor’s request and argued that state law enforcement has a “duty” to investigate. Scott also has ordered sheriffs around the state to police the recounts and has filed lawsuits to try to force Broward and Palm Beach counties to essentially treat their elections offices as crime scenes. 

National Republican figures backing Scott, including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), are holding daily briefings to raise questions about the integrity of the election.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush also joined the fray Monday, saying there was “no question” that Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes has broken the law and that she should be removed from office after the recounts.

A pro-Trump political committee is throwing $250,000 behind an attack ad against Snipes on television in southern and central Florida and online. “Legal voters in Florida are outraged, and Brenda Snipes must be removed,” says the ad by Great America PAC, which suggests blatant fraud with no evidence. “When we can’t trust our elections, we don’t have a democracy.”

State law allows the governor to suspend an elections supervisor for malfeasance or incompetence and appoint a replacement. Snipes was appointed by Bush in 2003 after he ousted her predecessor for mismanagement; she since has been reelected four times. 

“I’ve never been a target like this in my life,” Snipes said. “There is no rampant fraud here.”

So far, courts and state agencies are resisting Scott’s demands to intervene in the recount. In Broward, a state judge on Monday rejected Scott’s request to have ballots and machines not used in the recount be impounded, admonishing him to “ramp down the rhetoric” and let elections workers do their job. The secretary of state, which is in charge of monitoring elections, has said the office has found no evidence of criminal activity.

The governor’s use of his bully pulpit is provoking appeals that he recuse himself from the vote counting — not only from Nelson, but also the Florida League of Women Voters. The organization, which alleged that Scott “intentionally politicized governance of the election,” filed a lawsuit Monday demanding that he remove himself from the recount process.

National and state election officials also sounded alarms about heated rhetoric coming from the governor and the White House.

“Providing clear and accurate assessments of elections is crucial when you are dealing with voter confidence,” said Maria Benson of the National Association of Secretaries of State, which calls itself the nation’s oldest nonpartisan professional group for public officials. “When you plant that seed like that, it’s hard to take it back.”

Ronald Labasky, executive director of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, another nonpartisan group, called the claims of voter fraud “irresponsible” in light of the lack of evidence. “Allegations of this nature do make people question whether the process is fair and the result is correct,” he said.

The White House did not respond to requests for evidence of fraud or to questions about whether Trump thinks the votes of military members serving overseas should be counted.

Another issue is the handling of 205 votes in Broward County, from voters who were forced to cast provisional ballots on Election Day because connectivity issues prevented the county system from verifying their registration — even though phone calls to the central election office confirmed that they were all registered.

On the night of the election, those provisional ballots were taken out of their envelopes, counted and set aside. But it was later determined that 20 of those ballots were ineligible because of mismatched signatures on the envelopes. Republicans are insisting that all 205 ballots must be thrown out; Democrats are demanding they count.

“I think the takeaway, fairly or not, from Florida to Georgia to Arizona, is Republicans continue to try to suppress the vote and Democrats continue to try to turn it out,” said former Florida congressman David Jolly, who recently left the GOP to become an independent. “Current political leaders making these false allegations in itself is a failure of leadership. . . . They’ve already undermined the legitimacy of the election, in some ways.”

But suspicions abounded outside the Broward elections office in Lauderhill, where protesters in the parking lots waved signs and swayed to the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” a signature song from Trump campaign rallies.

Linda Schainberg, 56, was showing off cellphone video of trucks backing up to the elections office three days after the election. “You could hear them rolling out boxes of ballots,” said Schainberg, though she acknowledged she didn’t see what was inside the boxes.

Snipes said trucks have been returning election equipment, chairs and tables from the 577 polling locations — not boxes of ballots.

In a case that will test the Republican hard-line stance on ballots, some voters in the conservative Florida Panhandle — still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael — faxed and emailed their ballots, state officials confirmed. It was unclear how many votes were at stake.

“Anytime that we are working outside of the law . . . that concerns me,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said on a call with reporters arranged by Scott’s campaign. “It has to go either way — no matter if it’s a Republican county or a Democrat county.”

The governor’s aggressive posture in recent days contrasts with that of DeSantis, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, who is sitting on a bigger cushion of 33,684 votes. After the unofficial tally was posted Saturday, he expressed his “appreciation” to all the election supervisors in the state and said he was focused on transitioning into the governor’s office.

Both Republicans and Democrats have questioned why Scott would allege fraud in an election many expect him to win. Scott was surprised when DeSantis, a Republican former congressman from the Daytona Beach area running for governor, garnered more votes than a two-term governor, said one Republican familiar with the party’s strategy discussions.

Scott also has been hard-pressed to answer questions about why he didn’t remove Snipes, the Broward elections supervisor, in 2016, when she was accused of destroying ballots in a congressional election while a lawsuit was pending.

A Pew survey this fall found Americans seeing voter suppression, in principle, as a bigger problem than voter fraud. A 58 percent majority said that if one out of a million eligible voters was improperly prevented from voting, it would be a “major problem” for the election, compared with 41 percent who said it would be a major problem if one person voted despite lacking eligibility.

Alice Crites, Lori Rozsa, Felicia Sonmez, Scott Clement and John Wagner contributed to this report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-fan-worries-about-voter-fraud-in-florida-and-other-close-contests/2018/11/12/38759608-e6b5-11e8-bd89-eecf3b178206_story.html?utm_term=.ac464c80b64e

[auburn41 492]

14 hours ago, homersapien said:

This is correct.  Trump has no regard for process.  All he can consider is outcomes.  Exactly what you would predict for a narcissistic psychopath.

Scott - who should know better - is arguably even more guilty.

This is dangerous for our democracy. 

 

By characterizing basic safeguards as illegitimate, Rick Scott and President Trump are undermining democracy.

On Thursday night, two days after Election Day, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) stood on the steps of the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee and unleashed a nuclear bomb aimed at the very foundation of democracy. Scott suggested there was “rampant fraud” in the state. “No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C.” was going to steal the election from Floridians, the governor said.

When Scott made his comments, Florida hadn’t even hit the deadline to submit unofficial election results to the state. Scott asked the state’s law enforcement agency to investigate his allegations, but the agency quickly said there was nothing to investigate.

That hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump from continuing to insist that there was fraud in the state. There is no evidence of fraud to support his claim.

Scott’s election night lead over Nelson has shrunk significantly, and the margin is now so slim that the state is in the midst of a legally required recount. But election experts say there’s nothing unusual or nefarious about vote tallies changing days after an election. Instead of letting election officials count the ballots as usual, the comments from Scott and Trump amount to an effort to undermine normal election processes.

Steven Huefner, a law professor at Ohio State University, wrote that it was “beyond unseemly” and “downright destructive of public trust in our elections” for election officials to attribute changing vote totals to nefarious actions.

Florida allows voters to cast ballots by mail and accepts them until 7 p.m. on Election Day. Election officials then have to verify signatures on the ballots in addition to determining whether provisional ballots cast on Election Day can count. That process can take time, which is why Florida and other states give counties time to conduct what’s called a canvass and review the votes. In Florida, the deadline for counties to submit unofficial results to the state was Saturday and the deadline for official results is Nov. 18.

“Results on election night, it’s actually never been final on election night. Ever in the history of our country. There’s always been this continuation of calculating the results and all that,” said Amber McReynolds, the former top elections official in Denver who is now the executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, a group that advocates for voting by mail. “This is not new. Florida’s doing exactly what other states are doing right now. California has even more to count. But in California, there’s not a Republican that might win, so it’s not getting any attention.”....................

Read the rest at:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-recount-voter-fraud_us_5bea0432e4b044bbb1a7927c

 

Do you realize how IRONIC this is coming from someone who posts constantly about RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA!  I get such a kick out of you!

[homersapien 11,366]

38 minutes ago, auburn41 said:

Do you realize how IRONIC this is coming from someone who posts constantly about RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA!  I get such a kick out of you!

No.    I don't get the connection.    Would you car to explain?

And I certainly don't post "constantly" about Russia. 

(Glad you are getting your kicks tho. )

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

Nelson is trying to overturn election law in Florida to help him gain more votes.

If you want to change election laws, do so in the state legislature before or after an election. Not during a recount to try and win an election.

[homersapien 11,366]

3 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Nelson is trying to overturn election law in Florida to help him gain more votes.

If you want to change election laws, do so in the state legislature before or after an election. Not during a recount to try and win an election.

How so?

[AuCivilEng1 10,999]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/disguised-illegal-voters-cost-republicans-midterm-victories-trump-211538601.html

 

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Democrats wearing disguises and voting more than once were responsible for Republican losses in tight congressional elections.

"The Republicans don't win and that's because of potentially illegal votes," Trump was quoted as saying by right-wing website The Daily Caller.

Final results have yet to be declared in multiple races following last week's midterm polls, with tense recounts underway in Florida.

The midterm races for governor and senator in the politically important state are so close that recounts are obligatory. Republican Rick Scott was ahead of incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson by just 50.1 to 49.9 percent, according to the latest unofficial count.

Democrats have accused Republicans of maneuvering to prevent full vote tallies, while Trump told The Daily Caller that voter fraud had tipped the contest into chaos.

Trump claimed, without providing any evidence, that blatant use of fake voters in disguise had swung close elections.

"When people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again. Nobody takes anything. It's really a disgrace what’s going on," Trump said.

Republicans have pushed hard for tighter rules requiring voters to show identification when they come to cast ballots. Democrats have resisted, arguing that the number of false voters is miniscule and that demanding IDs would have the effect of suppressing turnout, especially of poorer black Americans, in favor of the Republicans.

Trump shot back, saying that any ordinary shopper already carried documents that could be used at a polling station.

"If you buy a box of cereal -- you have a voter ID," he was quoted as saying.

"They try to shame everybody by calling them racist, or calling them something, anything they can think of, when you say you want voter ID," he said.

 

 

[AuCivilEng1 10,999]

Just now, AuCivilEng1 said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/disguised-illegal-voters-cost-republicans-midterm-victories-trump-211538601.html

 

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Democrats wearing disguises and voting more than once were responsible for Republican losses in tight congressional elections.

"The Republicans don't win and that's because of potentially illegal votes," Trump was quoted as saying by right-wing website The Daily Caller.

Final results have yet to be declared in multiple races following last week's midterm polls, with tense recounts underway in Florida.

The midterm races for governor and senator in the politically important state are so close that recounts are obligatory. Republican Rick Scott was ahead of incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson by just 50.1 to 49.9 percent, according to the latest unofficial count.

Democrats have accused Republicans of maneuvering to prevent full vote tallies, while Trump told The Daily Caller that voter fraud had tipped the contest into chaos.

Trump claimed, without providing any evidence, that blatant use of fake voters in disguise had swung close elections.

"When people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again. Nobody takes anything. It's really a disgrace what’s going on," Trump said.

Republicans have pushed hard for tighter rules requiring voters to show identification when they come to cast ballots. Democrats have resisted, arguing that the number of false voters is miniscule and that demanding IDs would have the effect of suppressing turnout, especially of poorer black Americans, in favor of the Republicans.

Trump shot back, saying that any ordinary shopper already carried documents that could be used at a polling station.

"If you buy a box of cereal -- you have a voter ID," he was quoted as saying.

"They try to shame everybody by calling them racist, or calling them something, anything they can think of, when you say you want voter ID," he said.

 

 

I think it's clear what he's trying to do here. 2020 is going to be a scary year for this country, if he's able to convince his base that the only way Republicans are losing is because if illegal voting. 

[AU64 10,122]

Broward County FL is the new Chicago....up there the dems finally conquered the city and it's no longer necessary to count the votes of the dead.... Meanwhile dems claim cheating in Georgia without any evidence but the shenanigans in Florida are not of concern where votes disappear and reappear or turn up away from voting sites.    And once again the process of "interpreting the intent" of voters goes on in Florida where ballots are incomplete our improperly marked.  

 

 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

47 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Broward County FL is the new Chicago....up there the dems finally conquered the city and it's no longer necessary to count the votes of the dead.... Meanwhile dems claim cheating in Georgia without any evidence but the shenanigans in Florida are not of concern where votes disappear and reappear or turn up away from voting sites.    And once again the process of "interpreting the intent" of voters goes on in Florida where ballots are incomplete our improperly marked.  

 

 

So a Florida judge tells both sides to chill a little because there has been no evidence yet of illegal activities, and yet this is your take?  Yikes man.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

14 hours ago, Auburnfan91 said:

Nelson is trying to overturn election law in Florida to help him gain more votes.

If you want to change election laws, do so in the state legislature before or after an election. Not during a recount to try and win an election.

Exactly. The Dems now don't like the law(s) passed by the Fla. legislature to correct some of the mess that happened in the Bush vs. Gore presidential election. 

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, Brad_ATX said:

So a Florida judge tells both sides to chill a little because there has been no evidence yet of illegal activities, and yet this is your take?  Yikes man.

:Yikes...sure there is.....failed to complete the count when required, etc....this is not a court trial....yet....but judge is having to referee and direct the apparently incompetent Supervisor on how to do her job ….in accord with the state law which she is willing to ignore... . 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

38 minutes ago, AU64 said:

:Yikes...sure there is.....failed to complete the count when required, etc....this is not a court trial....yet....but judge is having to referee and direct the apparently incompetent Supervisor on how to do her job ….in accord with the state law which she is willing to ignore... . 

Failed to complete the count when required?  There are still absentee votes coming in.  Every state builds in extra time because of mail-in/absentee ballots.  The Supervisor is incompetent to be sure, but there's no evidence of willfully breaking the law as of now.  You're jumping to conclusions based on very inconclusive data.

[homersapien 11,366]

Republicans have already stolen one election in Florida by stopping vote counting early, God forbid they steal another.

[DKW 86 7,419]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Republicans have already stolen one election in Florida by stopping vote counting early, God forbid they steal another.

[homersapien 11,366]

1 hour ago, DKW 86 said:

blasphemer. Noun. A person who mocks or derides a deity or religion, or claims to be God.   To speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things).

(Not to mention Exodus 20:16  )

 

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

Quote

Email shows Florida Democratic official sought to use altered forms for reaching voters with ballot problems

 

Ana Ceballos, Naples Daily NewsPublished 4:28 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2018 | Updated 5:56 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2018

 

TALLAHASSEE – A Democratic party official in Florida directed aides to share altered election forms with voters in an effort to fix ballot signature problems a day after polls closed in the key swing state, an email obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK shows.

The email shows a Democratic party leader provided staff with altered copies of a state form that were modified to give the impression that voters had more time to correct signature problems with mailed-in ballots than they actually had under state law. 

The altered forms, which turned up in four counties in the state, appear to be an effort to increase the number of Democratic ballots counted in the state's hotly contested races for governor and Senate, election experts said.

It is not clear whether the effort changed the tally in any of the state’s marquee races, but election experts said altering the form is illegal and the controversy is likely to spur claims that party officials attempted to undermine the voting process.

Officials at the Florida Department of State said they asked federal prosecutors last week to investigate altered forms received by local election supervisors.

Jake Sanders, a Democratic campaign consultant in the state, told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida that he warned party officials about potential legal problems with the altered forms and was ignored.

"They should have been saying, 'This is unprecedented, we are fighting for your vote to count, fill this out so we can fight for you,'” Sanders said. “But self-imposing a fake deadline and deceiving people is counter to that."

Election officials check the signatures on mailed ballots against the signatures they have on record. If they don’t match, the ballot is set aside for further review. When that happens, a voter has the ability to resubmit their signature on a form to “cure” the difference between the signatures and have their ballot counted.

The email encouraged Florida Democrats to identify the challenged ballots and send the altered signature correction forms to voters. But the language was different: It replaced the deadline of 5 p.m. on Nov. 5, the day before the election, with a new deadline, "no later than 5 p.m. Thursday Nov. 8."

The altered forms surfaced in Broward, Santa Rosa, Citrus and Okaloosa counties. It is not clear whether election officials in those counties actually accepted any of the altered signature forms, given that they would have arrived after the state’s deadline.

Charles Zelden, political science professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida and an election expert, said the move presented the appearance of trying to game the system.

read all of the article and see the altered form and the e-mail in question at: 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/15/florida-recount-democrats-launch-plan-altered-state-form-fix-ballots/2016030002/

[autigeremt 6,599]

Regardless of your political leanings the issue in Broward County, Florida should make anyone who believes in fairness and democracy cringe. 

But it's 2018 and that would be asking a lot of people. 

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

g

22 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Failed to complete the count when required?  There are still absentee votes coming in.  Every state builds in extra time because of mail-in/absentee ballots.  The Supervisor is incompetent to be sure, but there's no evidence of willfully breaking the law as of now.  You're jumping to conclusions based on very inconclusive data.

The State Constitution was violated. That stands for something, doesn't it? Or do you just brush that off?

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

18 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

The State Constitution was violated. That stands for something, doesn't it? Or do you just brush that off?

Depends on the state I guess.  For years (up until around 2000), interracial marriage was codified as illegal in Alabama under the State Constitution.  It wasn't enforced.  My point here is that the judge hasn't found any nefarious means yet.  Stupidity to be sure, but nothing intentionally misleading to try and sway the election.

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

4 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Depends on the state I guess.  For years (up until around 2000), interracial marriage was codified as illegal in Alabama under the State Constitution.  It wasn't enforced.  My point here is that the judge hasn't found any nefarious means yet.  Stupidity to be sure, but nothing intentionally misleading to try and sway the election.

Haha I am confident the judge wasn't referencing something blatantly absurd as prohibition on interracial marriage. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

3 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Haha I am confident the judge wasn't referencing something blatantly absurd as prohibition on interracial marriage. 

Me too, but you get my point.  Sometimes following the exact letter of the law is stupid.  What's more important here: getting the recount done by yesterday or getting the recount done correctly?

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

FWIW, most of the experts I've listened to or read feel that the winners in the Florida races won't change.  Here's a good read on why, using some recent recounts in other states as examples.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/florida-recount/index.html

 

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

42 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Me too, but you get my point.  Sometimes following the exact letter of the law is stupid.  What's more important here: getting the recount done by yesterday or getting the recount done correctly?

In all honesty, I think your former statement above is an attempt to downplay the constitutional violation. Shouldn’t just write it off as “sometimes following the State Constitution is stupid.”

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

34 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

In all honesty, I think your former statement above is an attempt to downplay the constitutional violation. Shouldn’t just write it off as “sometimes following the State Constitution is stupid.”

Yes, following the "exact letter of the law", which were the actual words I used, can be stupid sometimes.  Law enforcement uses discretion all of the time even when laws are violated, often for good reason.  My point here, which has not been refuted, is that it's more important to get it right than it is to be expedient with the process.  Either way, the results aren't going to change with the recounts.