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Rumor vs Reality, Status of the Quest for Recount in Florida Governor’s Race 2018
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-By Gypsy C. Gallardo
Rumors and misinformation abound in the red-hot discussion about whether Florida will undergo its first statewide recount since the fiasco of the 2000 Presidential Race.
Be clear – the State Supervisor of Elections has not yet officially called a recount, and likely won’t until after counties submit their unofficial results to the state this Saturday. If results show a half of one percent gap (0.5%) or less between candidates, a machine recount will take place; and if the gap is a quarter of a point (0.25%) or less, a hand recount will happen.
UPDATES AS OF 6:00 P.M. FRIDAY NOV 9TH
VOTE COUNTS
Votes for Andrew Gillum have steadily chipped away at Ron DeSantis’ lead since election night when Gillum offered a ceremonial (non-legally binding) concession to his Republican opponent.
DeSantis’ lead narrowed from the 55,439 vote advantage reported on election night, to 42,933 as of 10:00 on Thursday morning, to 38,507 at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon and to 36,272 by 7:50 p.m. on Thursday evening. On Friday morning at 9 a.m., the gap stood at 36,199 and now stands at 36,002.
The race entered recount range at 2 p.m. on Thursday when Gillum was separated by 0.47% from competitor Ron DeSantis, which is below the 0.50% threshold that triggers an automatic machine recount. As of Friday at 6 p.m., the gap still stood at 0.44% – the same as it’s been since 7:10 p.m. on Thursday (though the vote count continues to climb steadily).
The other two races that stand poised for official recounts are the U.S. Senate race (Rick Scott (R) vs incumbent Bill Nelson (D), who are separated by less than one-fifth of one percent (0.18%), with a spread of 15,068 votes in favor of Scott); and the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture race (Matt Caldwell (R) vs Nikki Fried (D), where Fried is now in the lead by 2,924 votes or 0.04% of the vote).
Here is a screen shot from the Florida Election Commission reflecting the gap in the Governor’s race at 6 p.m. Friday.
STATUS OF BALLOT COUNTS BY COUNTY
As of 6 p.m. on Friday:
- Mail Ballots – All but 2 of Florida’s 67 counties have completed counts of mail ballots; Broward and Palm Beach are the only counties that have not completed this count.
- Early Votes – All but 1 of Florida’s 67 counties have completed counts of mail ballots; Broward is the only county that has not completed this count.
- Provisional Ballots – Only 7 of Florida’s 67 counties have still not completed provisional ballot counts.
- Overseas Vote-by-Mail – None of Florida’s 67 counties have completed counts of overseas mail-in ballots.
Click here to see county-by-county reporting statuses.
THE SITUATION IN BROWARD COUNTY
Broward is the only county in Florida that has not yet completed counts of early votes, and it’s one of only two counties (along with Palm Beach) that has not completed a count of its mail-in ballots. Read the Miami Herald’s most current report on the matter (posted at 9 p.m. Thursday. The Broward Supervisor of Elections, Brenda Snipes, has not yet explained why her office reported two different figures for total ballots cast (695,799 vs 716,268).
Watch this space for updates throughout the day on Friday. This post will be updated throughout the day on Friday, November 9th, as Florida voters wait on edge-of-seats to learn whether the governor’s race will be subject to a recount.
