Reece Gardner: Florida recount may have opened new can of worms

We've all heard the expression, "Be careful what you ask for." This may apply to the order by Florida's Secretary of State to conduct recounts in the state’s U.S. Senate and governor races. 

As Chris Donaldson and other press outlets have reported, the strange circumstances surrounding the Nov. 6 midterm elections have taken an ominous turn as some who were opposed to the outcomes have managed to push what seemed to be losses at the ballot box into the recount stage. 

Voters rendered their verdicts on gubertorial candidate Andrew Gillum and on lifelong politician Sen. Bill Nelson, but soon after the races had been called, additional votes began appearing in Broward County.  Once again, Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes found herself at the center of controversy. What were once comfortable margins for GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and GOP senatorial candidate Rick Scott were slowly diminished to the point of requiring a state-mandated recount.

There is a distinct possibility those who have engineered these events might wind up regretting having done so. Indeed, another controversy has arisen. Matt Caldwell, Republican candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner, filed a lawsuit on Friday against the Broward County Supervisor of Elections. At the close of the election on Nov. 6, he had a 40,000-vote lead over his opponent, but by Saturday he was shown losing by 3,120 votes, signaling an automatic recount. 

And now a Broward County elections employee has reported seeing election staff committing crimes by filling out blank ballots. Upon filing his report, he was fired and told never to come back. If there is indeed fraud in the operation of Broward County Board of Elections, that fraud is now very likely going to be exposed.

The machine recount started Saturday. This involves loading some 800,000 paper ballots into scanning machines, with the requirement to submit these vote counts to the State by Thursday. 

Folks, I am sure the overwhelming majority of people in this country — Republican, Democrat, Independent, etc. — want to see elections conducted fairly and become concerned when that seems not to be the case. What is now happening in Florida might very well turn out to be a blessing in disguise by awakening all of us to the importance of maintaining free and fair elections in our great country.

And now to close on a humorous note: A man said to his doctor, "I have a problem. I have trouble with my memory. I just can't remember things the way I once did."

His doctor asked, "And how long have you had this problem?", to which the man replied, "What problem is that?" 

Have a wonderful day!