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President Donald Trump has claimed on several occasions serious voter fraud occurred during the 2016 presidential election. On Jan. 23, Trump told congressional leaders that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

Now it appears that at least in Florida, the president may have a point. Brenda C. Snipes, the top elections official in Florida’s Broward County, admitted that she “has seen fraud” as she defended her office against accusations that it has failed to keep sufficient measures in place to prevent voter fraud.

Voter fraud in Florida

Snipes testified in a federal nonjury trial that her office “removes ineligible voters from the voter registration list” only when authorities become aware of them; and admitted that “some noncitizens have cast ballots in previous elections.”

“Sure, you’re going to have mistakes,” Snipes said in her testimony, continuing, “The worst thing in the world would be if you don’t take immediate action to correct it.”

Snipes testified as the plaintiff, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), rested its case in U.S. District Court in Miami last week.

The group, represented by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, argues Snipes deliberately failed to take sufficient steps to ensure voter rolls are accurate. The American Civil Rights Union testified that the share of registered voters in Broward county exceeds 100 percent of eligible voters who live there.

Lawyers for the plaintiff provided evidence to the court last week that thousands of people over the age of 100 — some were as old as 130 — remain on the voter rolls long after they have likely died.

Snipes testified:

There are no perfect elections. You’re dealing with a ton of paper. There is no way to have 100 percent no-mistake effort by any supervisor at any point in time in this state.

Here’s a video from the ACRU highlighting Snipes’ remarks and a news report covering the case:

What’s Going On in Broward County? The incompetence of Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes….

Public Interest Legal Foundation’s argument

Logan Churchwell, a spokesman for the Public Interest Legal Foundation, told LifeZette reporter Brendan Kirby that it is unclear how the judge will rule in this case.

Kirby reported:

Churchwell highlighted two key admissions from Snipes on the stand. The first, he said, is that she testified that it is not uncommon for noncitizens to contact her office and ask that their names be removed from the rolls because they have been improperly registered. Some noncitizens have cast ballots in previous elections, she said. Churchwell’s group and other voting integrity organizations have pointed to that phenomenon in other states as an indication of vulnerabilities that make fraud possible. The other admission by Snipes is that she has seen cases of fraud, including most recently a case of double voting.

Broward County and other organizations have intervened in the suit, indicting they are willing to fight rather than settle in the case. Churchwell said funding from left-wing groups Demos, the State Employees International Union, and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations are involved in this case.

“Never before has there been a lawsuit like this that went to trial,” he said. “There are well-financed interests on the other side that want to fight.”

What it means

The president’s claims — that three to five million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election — will take time to prove.

The newly formed Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity seeks to work with all 50 states and determine how many cases similar to the one in Broward County are occurring across the country.

Unsurprisingly, Democrats are vehemently opposed to the president’s committee — a crackdown on voter fraud doesn’t help their cause.

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