Living here in South Florida (especially Broward County) has really really sucked lately....

But like a bright ray of sunshine Justice Sotomayor graced us with her presence at the Miami Book Fair and it was wonderful! She was brilliant, exciting, funny, warm - there are just not enough words. She was at the book fair promoting a new children's book she wrote called "Turning Pages", and when she finished speaking, she invited the children in the audience to come ask her questions - then gave them all hugs. Best day I've had in a looong time.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-broward-palm-first-recount-20181115-story.html

snip

"Wednesday is a crucial day. A federal judge will hear arguments in the Nelson claim that Florida's signature match law should be tossed. The law requires people who vote by mail to sign their ballot. That signature must closely resemble the signature first used when they registered to vote. If it doesn't, the vote doesn't count. Nelson's lawyers believe this standard is unfair and disenfranchises a whole host of voters. We may not know immediately how the judge will rule in this case. The hearing could be lengthy -- given the witness list it could go two to three hours. We don't know when the judge will issue his decision, but it is possible that he could hand it down right from the bench. The ruling could provide a big clue as to where these legal battles are headed. A win or loss for either side could foreshadow the direction of all these cases, and as we said before, Nelson needs to win just about everything to have a realistic shot of turning the tide. The signature lawsuit is just one of many lawsuits dealing with similar interpretations or challenges to Florida voter law" (read more)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/14/politics/florida-recount-day-5/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_content=2018-11-14T13%3A20%3A08&utm_medium=social&utm_term=image

"My name is FM and I am a Democrat from Broward County Florida" I keep saying that like I am at an AA meeting or something, but honestly it feels like some weird drunken stupor we are living in down here, every single day...

Teacher in Broward County Florida says she just found a locked box of ballots
According to Sun Sentinel: Teacher Lakeisha Sorey says she discovered a locked ballot box at Sunshine Elementary School in Miramar.

Sorey said she found the box about 3 p.m. Thursday, in the same area where voting had been held, and knew not to meddle with it.

“I didn’t want to touch it,” Sorey said.

Her discovery came as several statewide races hang in the balance, with elections officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties still counting votes on Thursday.

Seeking help, Sorey phoned her friend, State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, a close confidante of gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

Jones said he called the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office, and a woman there told him the box was probably full of blank ballots. If that’s the case, Jones is questioning why the box is locked.
Jones said he was not sure whether anyone from the Elections Office was planning to head to the school Thursday night to retrieve the box.

He’s worried the box might contain ballots that are not being counted,” Jones said.

“I was shocked about it,” he said. “I don’t think you’d lock up extra ballot paper. I’m hoping someone will at least go verify and make sure there are no ballots inside the box.”

A spokesman from the elections office could not be reached for comment Thursday.

State law requires a recount if the race is closer than 0.5 percent, and it appears a recount may be required for several races, including that of governor, U.S. Senate and state agriculture commissioner.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.


https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-ballots-found-box-broward-20181108-story.html

According to Sun Sentinel: Teacher Lakeisha Sorey says she discovered a locked ballot box at Sunshine Elementary School in Miramar.

Sorey said she found the box about 3 p.m. Thursday, in the same area where voting had been held, and knew not to meddle with it.

“I didn’t want to touch it,” Sorey said.

Her discovery came as several statewide races hang in the balance, with elections officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties still counting votes on Thursday.

Seeking help, Sorey phoned her friend, State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, a close confidante of gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

Jones said he called the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office, and a woman there told him the box was probably full of blank ballots. If that’s the case, Jones is questioning why the box is locked.
Jones said he was not sure whether anyone from the Elections Office was planning to head to the school Thursday night to retrieve the box.

He’s worried the box might contain ballots that are not being counted,” Jones said.

“I was shocked about it,” he said. “I don’t think you’d lock up extra ballot paper. I’m hoping someone will at least go verify and make sure there are no ballots inside the box.”

A spokesman from the elections office could not be reached for comment Thursday.

State law requires a recount if the race is closer than 0.5 percent, and it appears a recount may be required for several races, including that of governor, U.S. Senate and state agriculture commissioner.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.


https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-ballots-found-box-broward-20181108-story.html

As a Broward county voter - I am just pulling my hair out at this point!!!

Broward County had unusual vote discrepancies for the state’s most high profile races, raising new questions as officials on Thursday continued to count votes amid the possibility of multiple recounts, a South Florida Sun Sentinel analysis of voting patterns reveals.

Of the Broward ballots already counted, more than 24,700 people voted for a governor candidate but didn’t vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate, according to county results. The Sun Sentinel found similar discrepancies in other statewide races, where the vote tallies suggest that thousands of voters made the unlikely choice to vote on lower-profile races and bypass the Senate race — a marquee race and the first one on the ballot.

This unusual pattern appears in no other Florida county.

In other Florida counties, the tallies reflect patterns that would be expected, with more voters weighing in on the Senate race than in statewide races of lesser stature.

Not so in Broward, where current vote tallies show that thousands more voters cast ballots for the chief financial officer, agriculture commissioner and attorney general races in the county than they did for the Senate race. (read more)

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-election-broward-unusual-total-20181108-story.html

If you voted via provisional ballot because you forgot your ID, you have until 5 P.M. TODAY to bring your ID to your county supervisor of elections and make your ballot count.

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/11/07/bill-nelsons-moonshot-can-a-recount-find-30000-votes-and-win-back-his-senate-seat-from-rick-scott/

If you voted via provisional ballot because you forgot your ID, you have until 5 P.M. TODAY to bring your ID to your county supervisor of elections and make your ballot count.

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/11/07/bill-nelsons-moonshot-can-a-recount-find-30000-votes-and-win-back-his-senate-seat-from-rick-scott/

According to Mother Jones: Trump’s Pick to Replace Jeff Sessions Once Said Mueller Investigation Risked Becoming a “Witch Hunt”
Matthew Whitaker also wrote that investigating Trump’s personal finances would be “a red line” Mueller is “dangerously close to crossing.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/matthew-whitaker-donald-trump-jeff-sessions-witch-hunt-mueller-russia/

As much as I like Willie Nelson's "Blue Skies", I think I need a few more tunes to hum along with.....