ANOTHER TWIST

Recount Delayed in Florida’s Broward County

Republican representatives ask for machines to be retested in the heavily Democratic county.

The recount of Senate and gubernatorial ballots in Florida’s Broward County—a heavily Democratic area at the center of Republican conspiracy theories and allegations of voter fraud—has reportedly been delayed due to a problem with machines. The county was set to begin recounting about 700,000 ballots on Sunday morning on orders from the secretary of state, but a machine was failing to register all the ballots, the Associated Press reports. At the request of Republican representatives, officials subsequently agreed to retest the machines. County authorities have not said whether the delay could affect their ability to meet a Thursday deadline for the recount. The latest twist in the saga comes as flocks of Republican protesters have descended on the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office in recent days to echo claims made by President Trump, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and other Republicans that Democrats are trying to “steal” the elections. Those claims, disputed by state officials who say election monitors saw no signs of illegal activity, coincided with Democratic advances in late vote counting. As of Saturday, when the recount was ordered, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and Democratic Senate candidate Bill Nelson were behind their Republican opponents by less than .5 percent.

IT’S ON

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