The results of three high-profile Florida races shifted by .01 percent in Alachua County after the Supervisor of Elections office finished its machine recount Monday morning.
Although the recount was estimated to take about two days, the office finished counting in less than 20 hours.
The races for Florida governor, U.S. Senate and Commissioner of Agriculture were within the state’s margin for a machine recount, according to the Florida Divison of Elections.
Democratic candidates Andrew Gillum, Bill Nelson and Nikki Fried won in Alachua County but lost their perspective races on Election Day. After the county’s machine recount, Nelson led at 64.5 percent, Gillum led at 63.04 percent and Fried led at 62.99 percent of the votes.
Unofficial results in Alachua County:
- Nelson led Scott by 33,813 votes
- Gillum led DeSantis by 31,381 votes
- Fried led Caldwell by 29,159 votes
Recount results in Alachua County:
- Nelson leads Scott by 33,839 votes
- Gillum leads DeSantis by 31,393 votes
- Fried leads Caldwell by 29,185 votes
Supervisor of Elections offices must send the machine recount results to Secretary of State Ken Detzner by 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Broward Supervisor of Elections office began recounting its 700,000 ballots at about noon Tuesday, according to the Miami Herald. Miami-Dade County, which had about 800,000 ballots to recount, finished Tuesday night.
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher said her staff could only meet the 3 p.m Thursday deadline for the Senate race, according to The Palm Beach Post. A judge extended the deadline for the Palm Beach recounts to Nov. 20.
In the meantime, Alachua County is preparing for Detzner to announce a manual recount of the senator and Commissioner of Agriculture races at 5 p.m. Thursday, said TJ Pyche, the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections spokesperson.
In the case of a manual recount, 40 volunteers would review the ballots by hand, Pyche said. If a ballot is unclear, it will be reviewed by the county canvassing board to judge the voter’s intent.
Alachua County recounted half of the 116,000 ballots by 10 p.m Sunday. Of these ballots, about 40,000 were early voting ballots, 40,000 were election-day ballots and 35,000 were vote-by-mail ballots, Pyche said.
The county finished ahead of schedule because of a lack of technical issues and the number of volunteers who worked the overnight shift, Pyche said. About 60 volunteers worked from 1:45 p.m. Sunday to about 6 a.m. Monday.
“We’re lucky to live in a county that is so engaged and has so many people from different parts of the political spectrum that come in and participate in the process,” he said.
The machines were tested for glitches before the recount started, said Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton.
The paid volunteers were stationed at a total of 32 machines, two of which were programmed to count vote-by-mail ballots.
The first set of volunteers worked a 6-hour shift. The following shifts were 12 hours long, Pyche said. Volunteers were paid a minimum wage of $8.25 an hour but could opt out of it.
The Alachua County Democratic National Party and Republican National Party sent designated observers to monitor irregularities. Cynthia Chestnut, the chair of the Alachua County Democratic Party, said more than 150 volunteers from the Democratic party covered Alachua, Levy, Dixie, Gilchrist, Union and Bradford counties to monitor the process.
Observers from each party were not required to be present, Chestnut said.
“We were overwhelmed by the generosity of people’s time,” she said. “I think people really want to see democracy at work and this is it.”
The recount was open to the public from start to finish. Residents sat in red, white and blue chairs as the machines whirred and dinged.
Michael Howard, a 62-year-old disabled Vietnam War veteran, arrived at about 5 p.m. Sunday and said he would stay until they finish in the morning. He said he wanted to silently observe the process in honor of his fallen brothers on Veterans Day.
“We’re a 242-year-old experiment in democracy,” Howard said. “We’ve made it longer than any country and any other democracy for a reason.”
However, Howard was not satisfied with the recount system. He said it should be organized better.
Other spectators like 54-year-old Alachua County resident Jackie Bordeaux said she wants the recount to be organized, smooth and modernized.
“It just needs to be fair,” Bordeaux said. “At least, it’s not those punch cards, right?”
Contact Alyssa Ramos at aramos@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @LysKRamos
Nov. 6
After polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, the tally appears to favor Democrats early in the night. However, during the night, Republican Ron DeSantis gains ground in the governor’s race and announces victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Republican Gov. Rick Scott tells supporters he won the U.S. Senate seat for Florida from incumbent Bill Nelson. Nelson releases a statement saying he’s waiting for results.
Nov. 7
Florida wakes up to the news that the races for governor, U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner are even closer. The Republican lead dwindles. Nelson announces the race is too close to call.
Nov. 8
As the races become closer, Republicans protest in Broward and Palm Beach counties, which are still tallying votes. Scott announces he would sue those counties’ supervisor of elections and says “unethical liberals” are stealing the election. Democrat Nikki Fried moves ahead of Republican Matt Caldwell.
Nov. 10
All 67 counties, including Alachua County, send unofficial election results to the Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who orders a machine recount for the three contested races. Gillum retracts his concession he gave the election night. Fried announces she won, even though the recount is still happening.
Nov. 11
The recount begins. Broward’s is delayed by a technical glitch.
Nov. 12
President Donald Trump writes on Twitter that “many ballots are missing or forged,” and “an honest vote is no longer possible.” A judge tells lawyers representing both sides in the Florida recount that they need to “ramp down the rhetoric” after Republicans, including Trump, alleged illegal activity.
Nov. 13
Broward County begins recounting. All the counties are supposed to turn in their counts by Thursday. Palm Beach County got an extension.
