Drama at post-midterm polls

On Tuesday, the midterm elections proved to be yet another thrilling, “made for TV” political event. As of right now, it looks like the Democrats have taken the House as they have picked up around 32 seats, a supposed referendum on Trump, and the Republicans have held and expanded their lead in the Senate by about two seats, a supposed referendum on the Kavanaugh hearings. This leaves a split decision between both houses of Congress when the new year arrives. Despite the finalization of most races, there are still key ones that have yet to be decided; some are headed for a recount.

The epicenters of these contentious and politicized races are Florida’s gubernatorial and Senate battles. Before the recounts began on Nov. 8, Ron DeSantis (R) was ahead of Andrew Gillum (D) by about 43,000 votes in the gubernatorial race. In the Senate race, Rick Scott (R) was leading the incumbent Bill Nelson (D) by about 22,000 votes. However, two counties in particular pose a threat to the leaders. Broward and Palm Beach County were still counting votes more than 48 hours after they were supposed to be finished. Ballots have been suspiciously “found” in the back of schools. The most troubling aspect of this particular issue revolves around Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections in Broward County, who was previously found guilty of destroying ballots in the 2016 general election.

Snipes is currently the supervisor for the Floridian county of Broward. As of noon on Saturday, Nov. 10, Ron DeSantis had a 33,684 vote lead over Andrew Gillum, and in the Senate race Rick Scott held a narrow 12,562 vote lead over the incumbent Bill Nelson. Pending any drastic changes in vote numbers, the only fear for Florida voters should be the process by which this election was held. Countless images of the aftermath were posted across every online forum possible. Videos of unmarked ballots being loaded into trucks, images of incomplete voting records and photos of boxes labelled “provisional votes” were posted and shared on America’s newsfeed. Both the left and the right screamed at one another. “Count all the votes” vs. “voter fraud” and “election stealing” were promulgated across the United States.

This causes an imminent and serious threat for U.S. elections, especially considering the varying degree of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The United States seems to be taking a serious look at the way elections are handled and are deciding on how to move forward. Possible options may be an alternative bipartisan entity to oversee elections or better vetting those who are placed in charge. The U.S. looks to take action on this issue.