Florida embroiled in a recount, again

By: Mac Williams
Twitter: @m_williamsm2
Email: williamsm2@findlay.edu

In the 2000 presidential election, the state of Florida faced a situation that would alter the course of American history. Then Republican candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore were facing a hand recount of all votes cast in the state because the vote margins were extremely close. In the end, Bush would win the recount by 537 votes in a state that had cast almost 6,000,000 votes.  

Florida is no stranger to a razor-thin race to the finish in a political race. According to Ryan Nobles of CNN, the race for governor and senate will be reviewed by way of a recount because the margins in both contests are within .5 percentage points which is the threshold to trigger a recount in Florida.

According to unofficial results reported by the counties, Republican Rick Scott leads incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson by around 12,500 votes or .15 percent. With respect to the governor’s race Republican Ron DeSantis leads Democrat Andrew Gillum by nearly 34,000 votes or .41%.  

According to John McCarthy of Florida Today, the recount is underway but tallying machines in Florida’s Palm Beach County aren’t fast enough to complete the recount by Thursday’s deadline. State law calls for vote totals that are reported Saturday to stand in cases where counties do not complete the recount on time.

This could potentially mean votes are not accurately counted in counties that do not meet the deadline. Nelson’s campaign has filed a federal lawsuit to extend the deadline for recounting votes. Each side has accused the other of fraud during the recount process, but no evidence has surfaced from either side.