Here's what happens if Palm Beach County can't count its votes by Thursday
If Florida's Palm Beach County can't recount its votes in three statewide races by Thursday, Florida will likely move on to a final count without it. All of Florida's 67 counties are re-counting their votes in the races for Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner, and must report new totals by 3 p.m. Thursday. Palm Beach County has said it won't be able to finish by then. “I will tell you that the secretary and the legislature and the governor have been extremely aware that with the election equipment we have, the potential of conducting all of these is impossible,” Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told the Palm Beach Post. “We have asked the secretary if there was any consideration to extend the deadline and he said ‘no.’” If that happens, Palm Beach County will have to use the vote counts submitted to the Florida secretary of state on Saturday, according to Florida law.
Michael Barnett, chairman of the Palm Beach County GOP, told CNN that if the county misses the upcoming deadline, it 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 told CNN. “In that case, you can bet your butt there will be lawsuits filed everywhere.”
Republican Gov. Rick Scott initially claimed victory Tuesday in his race for the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who refused to concede. The gap between Scott and Nelson, however, narrowed after Election Day as election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties, two Democratic bastions, continued to count votes. The margin between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis in the state's race for governor is also small and falling. On Saturday, after initial unofficial results were submitted to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner by the state’s 67 counties, Detzner ordered a statewide recount, for the Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner races, which were too close to call. The announcement from Detzner has left election officials across the state hustling to complete their tallying by Thursday.
Suzy Trutie, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County's elections office, told the New York Times that officials there will need to work around the clock in order to re-tabulate votes. The county has also rented four more machines for the effort. And in Palm Beach County, officials are working 12-hour shifts. Bucher said a missed deadline could be attributed to technology limitations, as the eight machines used by the county can calculate only one recounted race at a time. “We asked the vendor if we could get, we would fly equipment in from anywhere in the United States and they do not have any other equipment,” Bucher said, according to WPTV. “This is all the equipment, they don’t make it anymore, nobody has spares.”
