The ghost of 2000 is back to haunt the state of Florida as time lapses on its very first statewide vote recount for Senate, Governor and Agriculture commissioner, following the incredibly close margins in the 2018 midterms.
With 67 counties currently recounting over 8 million statewide votes mechanically over a five-day period, the recount was ordered on Saturday by Florida’s Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, after margins in all three races fell under 0.5%. This is in tandem with Florida’s electoral law which calls for statewide contest, decided by a half a percentage point or less, to be reanalysed and recounted.
Outside the previously stated races, recounts were also ordered in a state senate race and for two positions in the State House, as various positions remain despite the fast-approaching deadline.
Those affected:
In the race for a seat in congress between Republican Governor Rick Scott and incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, initial polling results on Saturday evening showed a lead of 12,500 or 0.15% in favour of Scott. Scott, widely known to have support from President Trump, called on his opponent, Nelson, to accept the reality of his defeat and to spare the state the discord and expense involved in recounting.
Nelson, however, asked Scott to recuse himself from the recount process, alleging abuse of power on his part in undermining the process. Reiterating his commitment to seeing the process through, Nelson stated: “This process is about one thing: making sure every legal ballot is counted and protecting the right of every Floridian to participate in our democracy.”
For the gubernatorial seat, Saturday’s unofficial final vote tallies placed Republican contestant, Ron DeSantis, in the lead over the Democrat candidate, Andrew Gillum, with about 33,700 votes (about 0.41 percent).
Although Gillum initially conceded to DeSantis at the first sight of a loss, he has since rescinded his concession, calling for every vote to be recounted to ensure certainty of the results.
“Let me say clearly: I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every vote,” he said while addressing pressmen in Florida.
DeSantis, on the other hand, expressed certainty that the results are true to the desires of Floridians, who have placed their trust in him. “I am honoured by the trust that Floridians have placed in me to serve as your next governor,” he said, before declaring that the results were clear and unambiguous just as they were on election night.
Unfortunately, DeSantis appears to have won the recount, with USA Today reporting that: “A recount of more than 8 million ballots that ended Thursday afternoon confirmed that Republican Ron DeSantis beat the Democratic Tallahassee mayor in the nationally watched race that galvanised progressives across the country.
“The final tally, headed to certification next week, was 4,075,445 for DeSantis and 4,041,762 for Gillum.”
Recounts are also underway for Florida’s Agricultural commissioner, despite Saturday’s numbers which showed Democratic commissioner candidate, Nikki Fried, ahead of the Republican candidate, Matt Caldwell with 5,326 votes (0.06 percent).
Ghosts of 2000 elections past:
Following lawsuits alleging fraud and foul play from both sides of the senatorial race, the recount is reminiscent of Bush – Al Gore 2000, where the US Supreme Court was forced to intervene in the electoral process by stopping recounts to declare Republican Candidate George W. Bush winner over Democrat, Al Gore.
What happens next:
With today being the deadline for the recount, all counties are expected to submit their new findings today as failure to do so will result in the original numbers being used. However, recounts within a margin of 0.25 or less than, will get an extended three-day period to be recounted with a new deadline of November 18th.
Although Detzner has no power to extend the stipulated recounting period, individual campaigns can file lawsuits for extensions.
