Florida's Republican state senate president says the Florida Senate will not take any action to block the suspension of embattled elections supervisor Brenda Snipes.
Senate President Bill Galvano sent a memo to senators on Thursday saying there is not enough time to investigate the allegations against the Broward County supervisor before her resignation takes effect in early January. The Senate has the power to review suspensions.
Snipes planned to resign on Jan. 4, but she rescinded her resignation after Gov. Rick Scott immediately suspended her last month. Scott appointed his former general counsel to take her place. In his executive order, Scott said Snipes needed to be suspended for misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty.
A legal memo prepared by the Senate says Snipes rescinded her resignation too late.
However, the memo also states Dr. Snipes can take the case to court where a "judicial determination" can be made. Also, she could receive a suspension hearing in front of the Florida Senate in order to fight for back pay from Nov. 30th, 2018, until her end date of January 4th, 2019.
Snipes was criticized by lawmakers, including Scott and President Donald Trump, during the midterm election. Her office missed a crucial recount deadline and misplaced 2,000 cast ballots.
"We believe these actions are malicious, we believe the allegations that are set forth in the governor’s executive order are done for purposes of embarrassing Dr. Snipes," Snipe’s attorney, Burnadette Norris-Weeks, had said previously.
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Norris-Weeks has not returned NBC 6's calls for comment yet on the most recent developments.
