Judge allows Miami-Dade elections chief to remain on congressional recount board

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia will remain on the county canvassing board overseeing the Congressional District 27 recount after a federal judge rejected an emergency request to remove her Monday, Nov. 9.

U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz denied Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez's motion for a preliminary injunction, finding insufficient evidence to disqualify Garcia from participating in the recount between Rodriguez and incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar.

The ruling came shortly before the machine recount began at 10 a.m. at Miami-Dade Elections Headquarters in Doral, according to the Miami Herald and CBS News Miami.

Salazar led Rodriguez by 1,090 votes, 124,528 to 123,438, or approximately 50.22% to 49.78%, before the recount. The margin of about 0.44 percentage points falls within Florida's threshold of one-half of a percentage point or less for an automatic machine recount.

The race remained unresolved Monday, with the recount expected to continue overnight into Tuesday, according to CBS News Miami.

Judge criticizes Garcia's election-night comments

Although Leibowitz declined to remove Garcia, he sharply criticized remarks she made about the congressional race before the recount.

Garcia told the Miami Herald on election night that Salazar had won "with or without a recount."

During Monday's hearing, Leibowitz called the remark "ham-fisted" and "a really dumb statement to make," according to the Herald's court coverage.

The judge also considered Garcia's subsequent qualification that a recount reversal was "possible but not probable."

He determined that the comments, considered in context, did not provide sufficient grounds for the extraordinary remedy Rodriguez sought.

The Miami Herald's account of the hearing said Rodriguez's attorney, Juan-Carlos Planas, acknowledged that the campaign had relied on published quotations without obtaining Garcia's complete statement.

Planas argued that Garcia's public remarks raised legitimate questions about her impartiality because the canvassing board performs functions that include deciding whether disputed ballots should be counted.

Garcia's legal team countered that she was discussing the statistical likelihood of a recount changing the result, not declaring that she would disregard ballots or refuse to perform her official duties.

Lawsuit cites family connection to Salazar's attorney

Rodriguez filed the federal lawsuit Friday, Nov. 6, citing Garcia's statements, her political relationship with Salazar and a family connection involving an attorney representing the Republican incumbent.

Garcia's son-in-law, election-law attorney Robert Fernandez, represents Salazar in the recount proceedings. Fernandez's wife, Alyn Fernandez, is Garcia's daughter and works at the same law firm, according to WLRN.

The lawsuit also cited a photograph of Garcia with Salazar and Garcia's public support for Amendment 3, a property tax measure approved by Florida voters Nov. 3.

Rodriguez's attorneys argued that these circumstances, taken together, created an appearance of bias that undermined public confidence in the recount.

Garcia has rejected calls to step aside, saying she has no conflict of interest.

The federal case record summarized by Democracy Docket confirms that Rodriguez filed his complaint and emergency motion Nov. 6 and that the court denied the request for preliminary relief Nov. 9.

Leibowitz concluded that the evidence presented did not meet the legal standard for removing Garcia from the canvassing board.

Canvassing board safeguards remain in place

The judge also considered the structure of the Miami-Dade County Canvassing Board.

Garcia serves alongside two county court judges on the three-member board. Decisions require at least two votes, meaning Garcia cannot determine the outcome of a disputed ballot question on her own.

The recount is conducted through a public process, with representatives of the campaigns permitted to observe.

Those safeguards weighed against Rodriguez's argument that Garcia's continued participation created an immediate constitutional violation, according to the Miami Herald.

Leonard Collins, an attorney representing Salazar, urged the court to allow Florida's established recount procedures to proceed without federal intervention.

The judge's ruling does not prevent Rodriguez from pursuing other legal remedies if evidence of misconduct or procedural violations emerges during the recount.

Following the hearing, Planas said the campaign was disappointed but believed the court had acknowledged the seriousness of its concerns, according to WLRN.

The machine recount began Monday morning and was expected to continue into Tuesday. Under the state's recount schedule, results are due by 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, according to Local 10 News.