FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Four Broward residents testified in court Thursday that their mail-in ballot was missing Amendment 2, which would legalize medical marijuana.
They told officials that the mail-in ballots they received recently were missing the amendment. Broward County Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes also testified, saying that her office takes these claims very seriously.
Cary Gandolfini and Johnnie Alexander both said in court that their mail-in ballots were missing Amendment 2, keeping them from voting on the contentious issue. Their mistaken ballots are two new cases, after Snipes’ office had already confirmed two mistaken ballots in Oakland Park, the week prior.
“It’s a screw up,” said attorney Norm Kent. “It’s ongoing. It may be worse than anticipated, and I want everybody that is out there voting in this presidential election to carefully screen and look at their ballot and make sure Amendment 2 is on it.”
Alexander said officials did not believe him when he contacted them about the alleged error.
“Very disappointed in the process that has taken place,” Alexander said. “They were very rude to me because they did not believe what I was saying to them.”
Snipes said she has alerted employees to be on the lookout for ballots missing the amendment.
“We’re seeing four people today that we think have the ballot without the amendment,” said Snipes, “and we are taking active measures. We don’t have a long soliloquy, but we are taking active measures throughout the day, every day, to remind voters that they need to see that Amendment 2 is on their ballot.”
Snipes also said she visited Alexander personally at his home to make sure he was able to vote. She also said she called him multiple times.
“Well, I called the number that we had available, must’ve called it three or four times,” Snipes said.
She said she also contacted two of the other voters who didn’t have the amendment, including Gandolfini. Snipes said that Gandolfini did not contact her office about the error.
It got heated in the courtroom when Kent’s procedure was questioned by the county’s attorney, who said, “He clearly doesn’t understand cross examination.”
Kent stood up and responded, “Excuse me, counselor, but I will take a certain number of insults and no more. After 40 years of practicing law, I think I probably could forget more about cross examination than you will ever know.”
Snipes is asking voters in Broward to look at their mail-in ballots very closely, as the amendment may not be in order. There are 92 different versions in Broward County. If you go to the polls, carefully inspect the ballot. If the amendment is not there, go to a poll worker, tell them you want a new ballot, and they will reprint you a new one.
The judge said she will decide whether to issue a ruling as soon as possible.
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