The election supervisor in Broward County likely broke the law when they destroyed paper ballots in the midst of a lawsuit filed by Tim Canova, who challenged Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2016.

Though many experts agree that the ballot destruction was a felony, Canova believes that the FBI is too busy chasing “Russian phantoms” to investigate election meddling right here at home.

Canova was seeking to have the optical-scan ballots inspected following the primary race and filed a lawsuit last June against Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes.

“We have a civil lawsuit against the Broward Supervisor of Elections which we should win and the court should award us attorneys fees. At that point the governor should fire the Supervisor and hopefully replace with someone who has integrity and presumably not part of the Wasserman Schultz machine,” Canova told the Gateway Pundit.

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According to federal law, the congressional race ballots were not supposed to be destroyed for 22 months, and state law declares that ballots which are evidence in a court case should not be destroyed without a judge’s order, Politico reported in December.

Snipes, a Democrat, had her office destroy the ballots in September, months after the lawsuit was filed. The office claimed that they did not commit a felony by destroying the ballots because they kept digital scans. Canova, who is a a Nova Southeastern University law professor, contends that they still broke the law because electronic copies can be tampered with. His belief has backed up by multiple experts on election laws.

“You’re not supposed to destroy these ballots within 22 months,” Canova’s lawyer attorney, Leonard Collins told Politico last year. “They did. You can’t destroy public records in an ongoing court case. They did,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Collins has filed a motion for sanctions due to the “spoliation” of evidence.

The office of Governor Rick Scott has stated that the destruction is “unacceptable.”

“The bottom line is it appears her office destroyed ballots — which is unacceptable. We will continue to push for answers,” McKinley Lewis, deputy communications director for the Republican governor, said in a statement to Politico in January.

Canova is now attempting to have an investigation opened which could potentially nullify the election that he believes was stolen.

“We’re trying to get the FBI to investigate but they seem uninterested at this point even through the ballot destruction violated federal law punishable by prison. I guess they’d rather chase Russian phantoms,” Canova told GWP. “Congress could investigate and the House could possibly nullify the stolen election, but I would not hold my breath waiting for that to happen.”

Meanwhile, Canova is challenging Wasserman-Schultz again, though he admits it is a difficult task to take on a creature of the swamp with his grassroots campaign and small donors. “Wasserman is swimming in predatory corporate money,” Canova noted.

Canova, a progressive, has not ruled out running as an Independent. “I don’t see things as right vs. left, rather it’s integrity vs. corruption,” he told the Gateway Pundit.

During the primary, he had gained support from Senator Bernie Sanders and his populist supporters.

“Well, clearly, I favor her opponent,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper in May, 2016. “His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz’s.”

More information about Canova’s efforts can be found on his website.