Brenda Snipes, a retired educator who served for 15 years as Broward County’s supervisor of elections, and whose office drew national attention during a contentious recount in 2018, died Thursday. She was 80.
Her daughter, Melanie Snipes Thomas, confirmed her death but didn’t state the cause. Snipes was a “loving soul and energetic. She was an amazing public servant for 55 years,” her daughter said. “Her philosophy was pouring into other people to make their lives better.”
Snipes’ longtime attorney, Burnadette Norris-Weeks, said Snipes will be remembered for her integrity: Snipes was elected to full terms in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 — a reflection of how voters valued her.
“I think she did so much to improve voter education, awareness and outreach. She was a true leader, elected for four terms, and you don’t serve the voters for that long of a period of time if you are operating marginally, especially as a Black woman. You don’t have that latitude.”
Norris-Weeks said Snipes “worked for fair and free elections for all. She served with dignity in spite of the fact that people were always trying to get her to do something that favored one party over another. She didn’t fall for any of that. She called things as she saw them.”
Snipes’ staff listed a number of her office’s accomplishments through the years: Increasing voter education outreach, offering a robust high school pre-registration program for students about to turn 18, being the first supervisor to publish ballots in three languages, and making sure the county had up-to-date voting equipment.
Joe Scott, Broward County’s current Supervisor of Elections, on Thursday called Snipes “excellent at recognizing talent.” He said many of the staff working in the Broward elections office today were hired and trained under Snipes’ tenure.
“The success our office has with outreach and voter turnout can be attributed to her vision for the county,” Scott said. “She has made a footprint in touching the lives of children who are now leaders in our community. It’s an honor for our office to continue her legacy.”
Born in Talladega, Ala., Snipes moved to Florida in 1964 with her husband as they began their careers as educators, which led to a longtime career in public service.
Snipes started her career as a teacher at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach and eventually became principal of Robert Markham Elementary School, also in Pompano Beach. She retired in June 2003, but later that year, then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Snipes as supervisor of elections.
Snipes was appointed to replace Miriam Oliphant, who had been accused of neglect in the disastrous 2002 primary election, when polls opened late and closed early. (A state election commission later dropped charges against Oliphant.)
Snipes’ tenure was marred by election issues through the years: Election results in the 2016 primary were posted on the elections office’s website before polls closed. In 2012, almost 1,000 uncounted ballots were discovered a week after the election. A court also ruled her office had broken election law when ballots were destroyed from the 2016 election 12 months after it, instead of the 22 months required by federal law.
Controversy also came in 2018 during the midterm election when ballots that were designed in Broward County could have cost Bill Nelson 9,658 votes in the U.S. Senate race against Rick Scott, according to a 2019 study by the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
Broward placed the federal races in the lower left-hand corner of the ballot, underneath ballot instructions in English, Spanish and Creole. Tucked away in the bottom left, many people apparently missed the race — especially in areas in which there wasn’t a hot race for U.S. House of Representatives, according to experts. Though the office followed state law, its approach contrasted with other counties, which placed ballot instructions in the header.
If the ballot design hadn’t cost Nelson those votes in Broward, Scott still would have been the winner by a small margin. (State election law later was changed to prohibit that style of ballot design.)
With the intense scrutiny and pressure, as the election recounts finished, Snipes said she would retire two years before the end of the term.
But Scott, then the Republican governor, pushed her out faster than she planned, and appointed Peter Antonacci to fill the job. But Snipes sued in federal court, calling her suspension “malicious” and “unnecessary,” and a judge ruled she was entitled to a hearing.
Later, Gov. Ron DeSantis did away with Scott’s suspension and accepted Snipes’ resignation. Norris-Weeks, who represented Snipes, said in 2019 she had negotiated with the governor’s office to come to an agreement, calling the decision a good one. “It’s as if the suspension never took place,” she said at the time.
DeSantis in 2019 said it was better to focus on the future. “The important thing is not to throw mud about what happened in the past, but let’s get on a better footing,” he said.
In remembering Snipes, Norris-Weeks said, “She did everything she could so people had every opportunity to vote in Broward County. She went above and beyond the call of duty in order to serve the voters.”
In addition to her daughter, Snipes Thomas of Atlanta, Snipes is also survived by husband, Walter Snipes of Fort Lauderdale, daughter Derrice Snipes-Hakeem, of Memphis, Tenn., and two grandchildren.
Information from the Sun Sentinel archives was used to supplement this news article.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at . Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
