Florida’s election torment is set to continue after officials ordered a hand recount of ballots in the knife-edge US Senate race between the Republican Rick Scott and the Democrat Bill Nelson.
After a troubled machine recount finished on Thursday, Scott had a lead of 12,603 votes, or 0.15 percentage points – within the threshold of 0.25 points that by state law triggers a manual recount.
But the eagerly watched and acrimonious race for governor appeared to be over, with the Republican Ron DeSantis virtually assured of victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum, according to unofficial results posted on the Florida secretary of state’s website. Gillum, bidding to become the state’s first African American governor, did not have enough votes to force a manual recount.
Scott, currently the state’s governor, tweeted: “With the statewide machine recount finished, our margin of victory has increased by nearly 1000 votes. @SenBillNelson, it’s time to admit this race is over.”