Broward County, FL Supervisor of Elections

As we look back and see how the Broward County Supervisor of Elections’ Office has evolved, we see the importance of our office and how imbedded it is into our history. Broward County was formed from a part of Palm Beach County and a part of Dade County in 1915. In 1916 the Primaries were held in June and the General Election in November. The Broward County Supervisor of Elections had six precincts with a total registration of 908 voters. We now have 793 precincts and over 1 million voters to account for.

Supervisors of Elections

Mr. Dewitt Tenbrook 1915-1918

Mr. T. H. Menifee 1918-1921

Mr. H. J. Singleton 1921-1929

Mrs. Easter Lily Gates 1929-1969*

Ms. Jane Carroll 1969 - 2001

Ms. Miriam Oliphant 2001 - 2003

Dr. Brenda Snipes 2003 – present

*TheLegislature changed the title of Supervisor of Registration to Supervisor of Elections in 1965.

The man seated in the foreground is Frank Curcie (his Hallandale home is now restored as a community center), the men standing left to right are: Unidentified, Unidentified, August Gieges, Unidentified, Henry Gieges, John Hart.

Picture above: "From the collections of the Broward County Historical Commission"

Ms. Easter Lily Gates served for 40 years as Supervisor of Elections of Broward County. She was also the first woman bus driver in the county. She went into politics just 9 years after women got the vote. Hats were her trademark. Without a car, she walked the length of the county, courting the 5,000 voters in 1929.

Easter Lily Gates images from the collection of the "Broward County Historical Commission and Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, Easter Lily Gates Collection, Fort Lauderdale"

Ms. Jane Carroll oversaw 200 elections in her time. She served as Supervisor of Election for 32 years. Her office did institute a kiddie ballot program in which kindergarteners learned about democracy, by voting for a class pet, dog or cat on actual voting machines—this program went national.

Ms. Miriam Oliphant was the Supervisor of Elections from January 2001, when she was elected to that position by over 65% of the votes, to November 2003. The touch screen machines were first used during her tenure.

Picture Left: Ms. Miriam Oliphant

Dr. Brenda C. Snipes was appointed in 2003 as Supervisor of Elections by the governor of Florida, and has been re-elected three times to that position. She believes in the importance of education and recently under her tenure, the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office has received a National Award for its partnership with Broward County Schools.

Picture Right: Dr. Brenda C. Snipes

This webpage was created in partnership with the Broward County Historical Commission and the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. To learn more about the history of Broward County and Fort Lauderdale, visit their websites at: