Election Day was on Tuesday, but for races in a number of states, it’s not over yet.
In Florida, both the senate and governor’s races remain undecided, and could potentially be heading for a recount.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott had appeared poised to win the Senate race against incumbent Bill Nelson on Tuesday, but his lead has narrowed significantly as votes continue to trickle in. Scott filed a lawsuit Thursday evening against Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, accusing her office of withholding “crucial voter information,” thereby calling into question the validity of the election process. Meanwhile, Nelson’s campaign is suing Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner to permit an extension for counties to turn in unofficial vote counts.
As it stands, counties across Florida have until noon on Saturday to submit their unofficial totals. A recount would be automatically triggered if the candidates are within 0.5 points of each other and the machine recount would need to be completed by 3 p.m. On Nov. 15. If the margin is 0.25 or less, a manual recount would take place, which would need to be completed by Nov. 18. As of Thursday night, Scott was ahead of Nelson by just 0.18 points.
President Trump is also weighing in on the increasingly tight race, tweeting on Thursday morning, “You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia – but the Election was on Tuesday? Let’s blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!”
You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia – but the Election was on Tuesday? Let’s blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018
Trump went on to tell reporters that the delay is a “disgrace,” criticizing Snipes and accusing Broward County of “finding votes out of nowhere.” He also appeared to try to tie the race to a conspiracy related to the Russian dossier.
“And then you see the people and they were involved with that fraud of the fake dossier, the phony dossier,” Trump said. “I guess I hear they were somehow involved or worked with the GPS Fusion people, who have committed… what they’ve done, I mean you look at the dishonesty.”
Nelson’s attorney, Marc Elias, had been responsible for hiring Fusion GPS during Hillary Clinton’s campaign, who in turn employed Christopher Steele, the man who compiled the dossier.