[EL] FL Gov. Rick Scott calls for election investigation

[Steve Kolbert]

Some quick notes about the legal relationship between Florida's governor
and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE):
- The Governor is only one of four statewide elected officials who
collectively "constitute the agency head of" FDLE. Fla. Const., art. IV, §
4(g).
- In practice, the four vote to hire an "executive director," who actually
runs FDLE. Fla. Stat. § 20.201(1). "The executive director shall serve at
the pleasure of the" four officials, not the Governor alone. *Id.*
- That said, the Governor alone can order ("by specific direction ... in
writing") an investigation into misconduct by public officials subject to
suspension by the Governor and removal by the Senate. *Id.* § 943.03(2).
- County supervisors of election are in the category of officials subject
to gubernatorial suspension and Senate removal. Fla. Const., art. IV, §
7(a), (b). Grounds for suspension/removal include "malfeasance,"
"misfeasance," "neglect of duty," and "incompetence," among other reasons.
*Id.* art. IV, § 7(a). (Also, "drunkenness.")

Steve Kolbert
(202) 422-2588
steve.kolbert at gmail.com
@Pronounce_the_T

On Thu, Nov 8, 2018, 10:39 PM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu wrote:

> Another Troubling Development for the Rule of Law and Election
> Administration: Rick Scott Requests Law Enforcement to Investigate Broward
> County Vote Counting, As He’s Locked in a Close Race for Senate, and
> President Piles On <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102079>
>
> Posted on November 8, 2018 7:30 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102079>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Banana republic stuff spreads.
>
> Marc Caputo and Matt Dixon for Politico
> <https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/11/08/scott-orders-investigation-of-and-sues-broward-county-as-his-margins-shrink-against-nelson-690074>
> :
>
> *Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday night that he was calling for a state
> investigation into Broward County’s handling of tens of thousands of
> ballots that have led to statewide recounts in three races, including the
> U.S. Senate contest in which the Republican’s lead has slowly decreased
> since Election Day.*
>
> *At the same time Scott called for a Florida Department of Law Enforcement
> investigation, Scott’s campaign filed a public-records lawsuit
> <https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000166-f61d-de9f-a367-fe7d6d050001> against
> Broward County Election Supervisor Brenda Snipes, accusing her of failing
> to provide details about the ballots tabulated after Election Day.*
>
> As a candidate he has every right to file a lawsuit, but calling for a law
> enforcement investigation while he is governor is stepping over the line
> when he has a personal stake in the outcome here.
>
> And President Trump piles on
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1060723241193484288>:
>
> [image:
> https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_bigger.jpg]
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump>
>
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump>
>
> *Donald J. Trump <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump>*
>
> *✔@realDonaldTrump <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump>*
>
>
>
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1060723241193484288>
>
>
>
> Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to
> do with Election Fraud in #Broward
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Broward?src=hash> and Palm Beach. Florida
> voted for Rick Scott!
>
> <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1060723241193484288>
>
> 42.9K <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1060723241193484288>
>
> 6:38 PM - Nov 8, 2018
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1060723241193484288>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1060723241193484288>
>
> 29.4K people are talking about this
> <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1060723241193484288>
>
>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D102079&title=Another%20Troubling%20Development%20for%20the%20Rule%20of%20Law%20and%20Election%20Administration%3A%20Rick%20Scott%20Requests%20Law%20Enforcement%20to%20Investigate%20Broward%20County%20Vote%20Counting%2C%20As%20He%E2%80%99s%20Locked%20in%20a%20Close%20Race%20for%20Senate%2C%20and%20President%20Piles%20On>
>
> Posted in chicanery <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent
> fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20181109/bc67a889/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2973 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20181109/bc67a889/attachment.jpg>