Matt Vespa has been vigorously covering the obvious stupidity and apparent corruption at the hands of Broward and Palm Beach County election officials. Either way you spin it, whether outright voter fraud or extreme incompetence, Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher have placed the legitimacy of a United States Senate seat in doubt because of their disastrous actions.
But now, Bucher is attempting to block the press and the American public from viewing how exactly the votes are being counted.
According to the Palm Beach Post "the Palm Beach County elections supervisor banned media from filming and photographing the high-profile midterm election ballot review process" on Friday morning.
The canvassing board claimed it was a matter of individual security, as the board could not guarantee that the cameras were not filming individual signatures.
“There is no way the canvassing board can determine or ascertain what those cameras, those recording devices are recording,” Judge August Bonavita, chair of the canvassing board told the media. “We have to focus exclusively on what’s in front of us. We can’t pay attention to your cameras.”
The PBP reports that reporters were threatened with arrest by "Five Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies" who "watched the meeting both from inside the room and behind the glass windows lead inside."
On Friday afternoon, an attorney for NBC interrupted the meeting claiming that they legally could not prevent cameras from recording the process, but the process continued.
The board's argument that the cameras are somehow a distraction contradicts previous ballot-counting procedures. In August, "Bucher held a recount in August for a Boca Raton City Council race and imposed no such ban."
Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach elections supervisor bans cameras from public ballot-counting https://t.co/6hW03bctaA
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 10, 2018