The recount in Florida has to finish by Thursday, November 15, but officials in Palm Beach County claimed that the recount cannot possibly end by then.
It doesn’t help that President Donald Trump has demanded officials halt the recount while both sides continue to demean each other, especially in Broward County, whose recount has turned into a massive dumpster fire.
Republican Gov. Rick Scott still leads incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson by 12,562 votes (.15%). Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis leads Democrat Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 33,684 votes (.41%)
Rick Scott filed a lawsuit “to impound ballots and machines at the Broward Election office.” The judge said no. From CBS Miami:
Judge Tuter allowed the attorneys to meet privately and come up with a plan that everyone could agree on and when court reconvened, all sides agreed to the suggested plan of three additional deputies. One will monitor cameras, one will monitors USB drives that contain votes and the third will be a supervisor who the other two report to. They will not report to the supervisor’s office.Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s U.S. Senate campaign filed two new lawsuits Sunday, one demanding law enforcement impound and secure voting machines, tallies and ballots in Broward and Palm Beach counties any time they were not actively in use.“What we are asking the court to do today is too remove any doubt. Take away the concerns of the citizens, take away the concerns of the public that this election process will be protected,” stated attorney for Rick Scott, Jason Zimmerman. “All you have to do, your honor, to take away that doubt, to fix the erosion of this process, is to grant this injunction. Allow Broward County Sheriff’s to monitor the votes when they are not in use. We are not asking the court to have Broward County Sheriff’s Office overseeing or standing over the shoulder of people who are counting the votes. We are not asking the Broward County Sheriff’s Office to interfere with any count whatsoever. We are asking the court, when these ballots in these voting machines, are not in use, to have someone other than Dr. Snipes, other than someone who listens and reports to Dr. Snipes be a part of the inspection process.”Broward Canvassing Board attorney Eugene Pettis countered by saying security is extremely tight at the facility.“Nobody is able to move about in these areas without proper documentation, period. They have not presented anything to suggest that someone got into this area and somehow had access to manipulate anything, They’re just saying ‘We’d be more comfortable if we could somehow get an order from this court to at least imply that intervention was necessary because we didn’t trust Dr. Snipes.’ You want to talk about what undermines our electoral process, it’s that type of behavior, that type of suggestion, without any evidence. They’re talking about 2016,” said Pettis.In addition to adding three deputies, Judge Tuter also asked attorney’s on all sides to ramp down the rhetoric.“I am urging, due to high public nature of this case, to ramp down the rhetoric.”
Unlike Palm Beach County, you can only describe Broward County’s recount as chaos. All the machine glitches, according to The Miami Herald:
The recount, scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., finally got away — sort of — at 11:23. But officials said no actually counting would begin for hours and possibly days.Instead, the machines were sorting ballots. Broward County ballots ran between four and seven pages, depending on the city, for a total of around 3.5 million pages.But all seven races being recounted were on the first page. Until sometime Monday evening, the counting machines will do nothing but pluck out those pages, to be counted afterward.The earlier four-hour-plus delay was triggered by a series of glitches in the testing of the 10 counting machines. The “logic and accuracy” tests were intended to make sure the machines were starting from zero and recording ballots accurately.But they failed repeatedly as election official grew tight-lipped and attorneys for various parties and candidates launched catcalls.
Democrats and Republicans continue to work harmoniously in Palm Beach County. The supposed adults in Broward County act no better than preschool children:
When officials announced that the Republican and Democratic parties each could send one “technical expert” into the room where the tests were being conducted, Fort Lauderdale attorney Mitchell Berger, a prominent Democrat but with no known background at Apple or Microsoft, loudly announced: “I use a computer. I’m going back.”As he began to enter the counting room, Berger was greeted with a chorus of “Ooooo, nooo!” from Republican attorneys and election officials alike. What looked like a potential confrontation was defused when Democratic Party officials quickly designated Berger their official “expert.”“It’s OK,” one disgruntled Republican shouted as Berger walked into the counting room. “You won’t know what you’re seeing, anyway.”When Berger returned, he said with elaborate flair that, “They’re doing a good job and they’re working hard.”“You mean the elections board staff?” interjected one of the officials. When Berger confirmed it, Republican attorney William Scherer widened his eyes in mock concern. “You don’t include the canvassing staff?” he asked.“Them, too,” Berger replied. “They’re doing a good job. And so are you, Bill.”
From CNN:
“It’s impossible,” said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher in response to CNN asking if officials would be able to finish the full recount on time.The prediction came as a rare point of agreement between Democrats and Republicans in the state, who have engaged in a tense fight since Tuesday’s election brought tight margins in statewide races.Sarah Revell, the communications director for the Florida Department of State, told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that if a county does not submit its results by deadline, “then the results on file at that time take their place,” she said.Revell added that Florida law does not give the secretary of state the authority to grant extensions.Palm Beach County GOP Chairman Michael Barnett told CNN that the county’s inability to meet the deadline would be “good news for Republicans because our candidates are ahead.””If they’re not able to meet the deadline, the secretary of state of Florida may go ahead and certify the elections for our candidates,” Barnett said. “In that case, you can bet your butt there will be lawsuits filed everywhere.”
Everything appears calm in Palm Beach as Democrats have shed any worry “about the integrity of the process.” Democrats and Republicans have “praised the volunteers and made not of the quiet, friendly atmosphere inside the massive warehouse where the work is being done.”
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