WASHINGTON - Florida’s races for governor and US Senate appeared headed Thursday for law-mandated recounts, while the Democratic candidate for governor in neighboring Georgia threatened legal action to ensure all votes are counted in her tight race. The two southern states are in the spotlight after Tuesday’s closely watched midterm elections, in which Democrats reclaimed the House of Representatives from President Donald Trump’s Republicans and flipped a number of governorships. Two Democratic candidates, Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia, were aiming to become the states’ first African-American governors, but the races were tilting in favor of their Republican rivals. Unofficial results show Gillum trailing Ron DeSantis, a Trump-endorsed Republican, by just 38,515 votes out of 8.1 million cast, or 0.47 percentage points. Since Tuesday’s election, “it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” Gillum spokeswoman Johanna Cervone said in a statement, amid reports that unknown numbers of ballots had yet to be counted in Democrat-leaning Broward County.

Gillum is “ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount,” she added.

The race between Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Florida’s term-limited governor, was even closer: Scott leads by 17,344 votes, or 0.22 percent. State law triggers a recount if the difference in a race is within 0.5 percent. If the margin is within 0.25 percent, as it stood Thursday in the Senate race, a hand recount -- slower and more thorough than by machine -- is ordered. Unusual voting discrepancies were also being reported in Broward County.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel said it analyzed voting patterns and found that of Broward ballots already counted, 24,700 residents voted for a governor candidate but did not pick a candidate for Senate.

The unusual pattern appeared in no other Florida county, the newspaper reported. The likely recount is reminiscent of the dramatic recounts that occurred in parts of Florida after the 2000 election. Those recounts were halted by the US Supreme Court, and George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida to win the presidency.

Meanwhile, Abrams trailed Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp by 1.3 percent in their governor’s race, but her campaign complained that Kemp proclaimed victory prematurely.

“All the votes haven’t been counted,” Abrams lawyer John Chandler told reporters, adding that there are outstanding absentee and provisional ballots.

“We will litigate until we have determined that every person’s vote has been counted,” Chandler said. Amid mounting concern over Kemp’s oversight role in elections, Kemp resigned Thursday as secretary of state, but repeated his assertion that he defeated Abrams. “The votes are not there for her,” he said.</s>JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - As the margins in the races for U.S. Senate, Florida governor and the state's commissioner of agriculture continue to narrow, accusations are flying and elections offices across Florida are preparing to begin recounts.

Outgoing Republican Gov. Rick Scott alleged without citing any evidence that elections officials in South Florida are trying to "steal" the election for Democrats. On Thursday night, the outgoing Republican governor who has claimed victory in his U.S. Senate race again incumbent Democratic Bill Nelson, filed a lawsuit against the supervisors of elections in two South Florida counties, asking the court to order the supervisors to turn over several records detailing the counting and collection of ballots.

Scott also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the way the ballots were being handled and counted in those two counties.

"I will not stand idly by as unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida," Scott said. “Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward counties. And the supervisors, Brenda Snipes (Broward) and Susan Bucher (Palm Beach County), cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist."

On Friday, Nelson's re-election campaign filed a lawsuit against Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner over vote-by-mail ballots and the process used to validate them, arguing that it leaves the decision to the "untrained opinions" of poll workers to determine "whether signatures match."

An attorney for Nelson on Friday compared Scott's request to use of a state law-enforcement agency to investigate the actions of elections officials to a "Third World dictatorship." Nelson's attorney Marc Elias, who has been involved in recounts across the country and has become a target of Republicans claiming Democrats are trying to "steal" the election, made the comment as ballots continued to be counted in Scott's bid to unseat Nelson.

Scott's thin lead over Nelson narrowed from about 56,000 Tuesday night to just over 15,000 on Friday morning, falling to 0.18 percent of nearly 8.1 million votes cast. Florida law requires a recount if the margin is within one-half of 1 percent.

"I would expect when we go into a machine recount and then a hand recount, right now the results are unknown who has won, and if I had to place a bet, I would say it is more likely than not Sen. Nelson will prevail in a recount," Elias said.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump tweeted: "Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott!"

Trump also said it was possible the federal government could get involved in the Florida vote count. "All of the sudden they are finding votes out of nowhere," he said. "What's going on in Florida is a disgrace."

A midday Friday emergency hearing on Scott's motion in a West Palm Beach courtroom, Judge Krista Marx ordered that any damaged ballot that Bucher or her Broward County staff throws out will need to go in front of the canvassing board.

Marx also ordered Bucher to provide a list by 4 p.m. Friday of everyone who voted by provisional ballot.

The margin in the race for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum has also narrowed to just over 36,000 votes, within the one-half percent difference that would trigger a recount. The race has tightened considerably since Gillum conceded to DeSantis on Tuesday night.

Gillum's campaign said it has hired attorney Barry Richard, who represented President George W. Bush in the 2000 recount, and is monitoring the situation. Gillum's campaign said his initial concession Tuesday night was based on "best information available about the number of outstanding ballots" at the time.

"Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported," the campaign said. "We are committed to ensuring every single vote in Florida is counted."

DeSantis declined to discuss prospects for a recount, telling reporters he's "very proud to be elected."

The campaign would only say, "We're working really hard on the transition."

Republican secretary of agriculture candidate Matt Caldwell finished election night with a razor-thin lead over Democrat Nikki Fried. As votes have trickled in over the last three days, Fried took the lead, by fewer than 3,000 votes, according to numbers posted by the Florida Division of Elections.

Once Florida counties submit their unofficial election results to the Department of State -- due at noon Saturday -- Secretary of State Ken Detzner, a Scott appointee, will review the results and decide whether to order recounts.

In elections offices across the state, provisional ballots and some overseas ballots that are given an extended deadline to arrive are still being counted. Duval County Supervisor of Election Mike Hogan said that should wrap up Friday, then they'll prepare for whatever is next.

"If the call comes that we can start on the weekend, then we will try to start on the weekend," Hogan said. "We are doing everything we can to get everything in position. We know it’s going to happen."

St. Johns County's elections office already has plans for it's canvassing board meet at 9 a.m. Monday through Wednesday to oversee a recount.

Florida's is a perennial swing state, and many of its elections have been decided by the thinnest of margins since 2000, when Florida decided the presidency by 537 votes in a contest that took more than five weeks to sort out. Still, the state has never seen so many dead heats in one year.

Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, didn't know of any other recount in a governor or Senate race in state history.

Like 2000, the counting process has turned contentious.

Florida was mocked for its handling of the infamous 2000 recount. At the time, the state lacked uniform rules for how to proceed. That has changed, with the Legislature passing a clear procedure on how a recount should be conducted.

Copyright 2018 by WJXT News4Jax. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>As Florida Races Narrow, Trump And Scott Spread Claims Of Fraud Without Evidence

Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET

Days after midterm voting, as ballots are still being counted, Republican lawmakers who are holding on to tight leads in midterm states are alleging foul play and voter fraud. The claims were amplified by President Trump, without evidence, on Friday morning.

"You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia — but the Election was on Tuesday?" he wrote in a tweet. "Let's blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!"

Current Florida Gov. Rick Scott, locked in a tight Senate race, said in a news conference Thursday night that "the people of Florida deserve fairness and transparency and the supervisors are failing to give it to us."

"Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant voter fraud in Palm Beach and Broward counties," he said. "I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida."

Scott's race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson seems to be headed toward triggering a mandatory recount. Florida law says any race within a 0.5 percent margin must go to a recount, and as of 9 a.m. Friday, Nelson trailed Scott by 0.18 percent.

Meanwhile, A Florida circuit court judge has ordered Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes to provide records on the total number of ballots cast, the number counted and uncounted, and data on vote by mail for the county by 7 p.m. ET tonight, siding with Scott.

At an emergency hearing on Friday, Snipes' attorneys suggested this could slow counting.

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz said to reporters outside the courtroom "We're here to get her records to show that there is fraud or there isn't fraud."

Scott has asked state law enforcement to investigate the elections offices of Palm Beach and Broward Counties for wrongdoing, without evidence of what should be investigated. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has said they are not investigating, that no allegations of fraud have been brought forward and there has been no written request from Scott yet.

Nelson released a videotaped statement Friday afternoon accusing Scott of abusing his office to undermine democracy and "stop a complete and accurate counting of all the votes in Florida."

Previous claims of widespread voter fraud, including Trump's claim that millions of people voted illegally in 2016, are considered false by voting experts. One investigation, published in 2014, found 31 possible cases of in-person voter fraud out of more than 1 billion ballots cast over a 14-year period.

Scott claimed victory Tuesday night and has filed lawsuits against two county election officials, in Palm Beach and Broward counties, alleging their offices have withheld voting records.

Trump echoed Scott's claims Thursday night, tweeting that "Law Enforcement" would look into election fraud in Florida.

Nelson's election attorney, Marc Elias, tweeted Friday that "as the counties continue their work, I expect that margin will narrow further. And then the State will conduct an orderly recount."

Trump has a history of calling out fraud, without providing evidence to back up his claims. No widespread claim of voter fraud by the president has ever been proved true. He even created a commission to investigate alleged fraud after the 2016 election, but it dissolved without releasing any findings.

"They're finding votes out of nowhere, and Rick Scott who won by — it was close, but he won by a comfortable margin, he easily won but every hour it seems to be going down," Trump said outside the White House Friday. "I think that people have to look at it very, very cautiously."

In the case of Florida still counting ballots more than 48 hours after polls closed, David Becker, the executive director for the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told NPR it is extremely common for a voting jurisdiction to be taking as long as Broward County is.

"Election officials are literally just counting the ballots. This isn't corruption or fraud," Becker said. "It is literally the best of democracy. Let election officials do their job and count the ballots."

Georgia: Republican Kemp claims Abrams trying to "create new votes"

In Georgia, gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is hoping to force a runoff with her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, who resigned his post as the state's secretary of state on Thursday.

Kemp has already claimed victory, and his campaign released a statement saying Abrams was trying to "steal" the election in a courtroom.

"Abrams campaign is trying to create new votes, because they know it's their only remaining hope," said Ryan Mahoney, the Kemp campaign's communications director, in the statement.

But Abrams' campaign maintains it just wants all provisional and absentee ballots to be counted before she decides to concede. The Associated Press has not called the race, and votes have continued to be counted this week.

Kemp holds about a 63,000-vote lead, with 50.3 percent of almost 4 million votes. He needs to finish above 50 percent to avoid a runoff election.

Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams' campaign manager, wrote on Twitter that if Kemp "cared about Georgians and being a legitimate [governor], he would wait until results are certified."

Abrams' campaign has questioned a number of aspects of the state's election administration, which Kemp oversaw until Thursday, including the fact that hundreds of votes came in from absentee ballots in Cobb County, according to the AP, after Kemp's office said all absentee ballots had already been counted.

"He is making a joke of our elections system and stepping on basic rights," Groh-Wargo said. "This is despicable."

She noted that many jurisdictions across the country are still tabulating results as well. Overnight Thursday for instance, the lead swapped in the Senate race in Arizona, with Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema pulling slightly ahead of Republican Martha McSally.

In California, more than 4 million votes have yet to be counted.

Florida's governor's race also looks headed to a mandatory recount, as the votes that have trickled in this week have also pushed the race between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum under the 0.5 percent threshold.

Gillum already conceded the race on Tuesday night, but he tweeted Thursday night after Scott announced his lawsuits against the two elections supervisors.

"Counting votes isn't partisan — it's democracy," he said.</s>Florida authorities on Saturday ordered a statewide recount in the contentious races for US Senate and governor, amid tit-for-tat accusations of fraud from the candidates -- plunging the state once again into election uncertainty.

Eighteen years after the Sunshine State found itself at the heart of a battle for the US presidency, it was once again in the spotlight after Tuesday's vote, which left the contests for statewide offices undecided.

Florida's 67 counties had been given until midday (1700 GMT) on Saturday to submit unofficial totals.

State law triggers a machine recount if the difference in a race is within 0.5 percent. Florida's secretary of state Ken Detzner issued the official order for the recounts after the deadline.

After the cut-off, the Senate race between outgoing Republican governor Rick Scott and incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson was super close: Scott's lead stood at just 12,562 votes out of nearly 8.2 million cast, a margin of just 0.15 percent.

In the governor's race, the latest unofficial results on the Florida division of elections website show Republican Ron DeSantis, who was backed by Donald Trump, leading Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum by just 33,684 votes out of more than 8.2 million cast, or a margin of 0.41 percent.

"Machine recount indicated," the website said in both cases.

In a statement, Detzner said the results of the machine recount would be due on November 15 at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Trump was not amused by the development, tweeting from France: "Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!"

With Florida's developments raising partisan tensions to fresh highs, Trump on Friday alleged a major corruption scandal was brewing.

"What's going on in Florida is a disgrace," Trump told reporters.

"Bad things are going on in Broward Country, really bad things," Trump added, referring to a Democrat-heavy county where officials were slowly counting votes including absentee and provisional ballots.

Scott filed lawsuits against Broward and Palm Beach counties alleging fraud after his lead narrowed.

On Saturday, he urged Florida's sheriffs to "watch for any violations during the recount process as outlined in Florida law."

Meanwhile, Nelson -- accusing Scott of trying to suppress votes -- fired back with a lawsuit of his own to block steps that would reject thousands of mail-in ballots.

The recount is reminiscent of the dramatic recounts that occurred in parts of Florida after the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Those recounts were halted by the US Supreme Court, and Bush defeated Gore by 537 votes in Florida to win the presidency. Broward County was at the heart of that controversy as well.

Most US political races have already been settled. But Florida is not alone.

In neighboring Georgia, the Democratic candidate for governor initiated legal action to ensure all votes were counted in her contest.

In Arizona, there is still no official result in a fierce US Senate battle that has Democrat Kyrsten Sinema leading Republican Martha McSally by a slim margin.

The ballot chaos raises fresh questions about why the world's most powerful democracy is incapable of producing swift and accurate election results across all 50 states.</s>Florida finds familiar territory with allegations of voter fraud and accusations of voter suppression dashing between Republicans and Democrats as the state prepares for an election recount.

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Saturday ordered a machine recount, which includes three key races: Florida governor, Florida agriculture commissioner and U.S. Senate.

"Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!" President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday after the recount was announced.

Trump on Friday said that Broward County "miraculously started finding Democrat votes" after Democrats sent Marc Elias – "their best Election stealing lawyer."

"Don’t worry, Florida - I am sending much better lawyers to expose the FRAUD!" Trump wrote.

Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate who in the first unofficial results was ahead of Andrew Gillum by a margin of 0.41 percent, released a video statement on Saturday in which he said he was preparing to serve as Florida's governor

DeSantis – described in the video as the "governor-elect" – said Florida voters chose him to lead, citing "clear and unambiguous" results.

"It is important that everyone involved in the election process strictly adhere to the rule of law, which is the foundation for our nation. Since the election a few days ago, we have begun our transition efforts to build an administration that can secure Florida's future," DeSantis said. "With the election behind us, it's now time to come together as a state as we prepare to serve all Floridians."

Rick Scott's campaign spokesman, Chris Hartline, released a statement in which he said Scott won a "close but decisive victory" with a 0.15 percent margin.

"It’s time for Senator Nelson to accept reality and spare the state of ... Florida the time, expense and discord of a recount," Hartline wrote.

Matt Caldwell, the Republican candidate for Florida agriculture commissioner, said he filed a lawsuit against Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes to "hold her accountable, follow Florida law and uphold the integrity of our elections."

Though Caldwell was initially leading on Election Day, Democratic candidate Nikki Fried surpassed Caldwell in the first unofficial results and holds a lead of 0.06 percent.

Despite accusations of wasting taxpayer dollars and voter fraud, Democrats are not backing down and are even suggesting or outright accusing Republicans of attempts to suppress votes.

"I am replacing my earlier concession with an unapologetic and uncompromised call to count every vote," Gillum said in a press conference.

"This process is about one thing: making sure every legal ballot is counted and protecting the right of every Floridian to participate in our democracy," Nelson wrote on Twitter.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., who endorsed and campaigned with Gillum, also called for every vote to be counted.

"No surprise. Law enforcement says Rick Scott’s allegation of voter fraud was not based in reality. He and Trump are just trying to undermine the results if he loses," Sanders wrote on Twitter.

Soon after the first unofficial results were released, Fried said that her campaign was "confident that once the votes were counted we would win the Agriculture Commissioner race!"

"Now that the deadline has come & the votes have been processed, the people’s will is clear – I’m honored to serve as Florida’s next Commissioner of Agriculture," Fried wrote on Twitter.

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, who serves in Florida's District 24, said that Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio "are making reckless and unfounded accusations about the midterm election in an attempt to prevent every vote from being counted. What are they afraid of?"</s>TALLALHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the potential recounts in Florida's U.S. Senate and governor elections (all times local):

The deadline to submit unofficial vote tallies in Florida's election has passed.

County elections supervisors had until noon Saturday to submit results. Now the state must announce whether recounts are needed in the U.S. Senate and governor races.

As the deadline arrived, Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by less than 0.5 percentage points in the governor's race, which would require a machine recount of ballots.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott's lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson was less than 0.25 percentage points, which would require a hand recount of ballots in which tabulation machines couldn't detect a vote.</s>On Saturday, the Florida secretary of state announced that the races for governor, senator, and agriculture commissioner are all officially headed for a recount. According to the Washington Post, Republican Rick Scott’s lead for Senate has shrunk to just over 12,000 votes, while gubernatorial candidate Republican Ron DeSantis is leading by about 33,000 votes. The Florida election has once again gained national attention as accusations of fraud and problems with ballots have brought the races to the forefront of the midterm elections.

In his race against Democrat Senator Bill Nelson, Governor Rick Scott leads by just 12,500 votes. Rick Scott’s campaign has accused Broward County election supervisor Brenda Snipes of election fraud after she was forced to admit that she had counted about a dozen rejected ballots.

“Three days after Election Day, the vote tally continues to change and Supervisor Snipes still refuses to explain where and how the new votes came to light,” the campaign said. “The public deserves a clear and direct answer.”

After vote counts were made public, Scott’s campaign called for Nelson to concede the election and spare the cost of a recount, but Nelson stayed the course. Meanwhile, Scott escalated tensions by claiming, without evidence, that “left-wing activists” were attempting to steal the election.

President Trump has joined in the accusations, spending the past few days tweeting about the midterm elections, calling into question the results.

“Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott!” he tweeted on Friday.

Trump suggested that the narrowing margin between Scott and Nelson is attributed to fraud.

“Rick Scott was up by 50,000+ votes on Election Day, now they “found” many votes and he is only up 15,000 votes. ‘The Broward Effect.’ How come they never find Republican votes?” he said.

The race for governor between Representative Ron DeSantis and Democrat Mayor Andrew Gillum has a wider gap, but is still within the margin for a recount. The president commented on the race, saying that Gillum had conceded the election, but was now “back in play.” “This is an embarrassment to our Country and to Democracy!” he wrote.

The Florida Department of State, which is run by individuals appointed by Scott, said that no evidence of criminal activity was found. After the news of the Florida recount was announced, Trump once again took to Twitter to call the process an attempt to “steal” the election. “Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!” he said.

Andrew Weinstein, a representative for the Democratic Lawyers Council, countered Trump’s claims of fraud, saying that more Democratic votes have been counted in the past few days as the Broward County results come in because there are more Democrats in that county.

“Florida has never had a full statewide recount. It’s about to have three,” he said. “Buckle up.”

Florida has until Thursday to complete the recount.</s>The Florida secretary of state has officially ordered a recount in the U.S. Senate and governor races, an unprecedented review of two major races in the state that took five weeks to decide the 2000 presidential election.

Secretary Ken Detzner issued the order on Saturday after the unofficial results in both races fell within the margin that by law triggers a recount.

The unofficial results show that Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by .41 percentage points.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott's leads over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by .15 percentage points.

Detzner also ordered a recount for Florida's Agriculture Commissioner race where Democratic Nikki Fried stands .06 percentage points above Republican Matt Caldwell.

All three races will undergo machine recounts with results due no later than 3pm on Thursday November 15 to the Florida Department of State.

If the vote is too close to call yet again by falling within a 0.25 margin or less, the three races will advance to hand recounts, due to be completed by November 18.

County elections supervisors had until noon Saturday to submit results.

President Donald Trump - who campaigned for both Scott and DeSantis - said that the recounts are a Democrat ploy to steal the election.

'Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!' the president tweeted on Saturday.

Scott called for his opponent DeSantis to decline the recount.

'It's time for Senator Nelson to accept reality and spare the state of the Florida the time, expense and discord of a recount,' Scott's spokesman Chris Hartline said.

Nelson responded saying he does not intend to back down.

'We have every expectation the recount will be full and fair and will continue taking action to ensure every vote is counted without interference or efforts to undermine the democratic process. We believe when every legal ballot is counted we'll win this election,' he said in a statement.

All the while protesters rallied outside the offices of the Broward County Supervisor of Elections in Lauderhill on Saturday where the final counts were made ahead of the noon deadline.

The announcement was made after Broward County election monitors said they saw no evidence of criminal activity in Tuesday's midterm election, despite the county being run by a controversial supervisor who mixed in illegal votes and failed to reveal the number of uncounted votes.

'Our staff has seen no evidence of criminal activity at this time,' Sarah Revell, spokesperson for the state Department of Elections, said to the Miami Herald on Saturday morning.

Following Tuesday's election, Rick Scott filed a lawsuit against Broward County and Palm Beach County, accusing Democrats of trying to steal the election on Thursday evening. He asked for Snipes to turn over several records detailing the counting and collection of ballots.

Snipes has been accused of 'fraud' in how she handled counting ballots in the election by Scott, President Donald Trump, and Republicans. She has a long history of controversies when it comes to vote counting.

She agreed to present 205 provisional ballots to Broward County's canvassing board for inspection, and the board declared on Friday that 20 of the 205 provisional ballots were illegal due to mismatched signatures.

They were set aside then counted in a voting machine, but the results were not added to the election's final total vote count.

On Friday the county didn't know how to move forward with the invalid ballots.

'We have found no clear authority controlling the situation faced by the board,' Broward County Attorney Andrew Meyers said.

Broward County collected more than 600 provisional ballots on Election Day, but majority were deemed invalid by the board for reasons including late registration or voting in the wrong precinct.

Since the election two Department of Elections have been stationed in Broward County to oversee see the administration of the elections, visit polling stations and 'ensure all laws are followed'.

In May Florida's Secretary of State announced increased oversight after a court found Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes broke the law by authorizing the premature destruction of ballots pertaining to a contested race following the 2016 elections.

On Saturday Broward official hit back at fraud allegations in a news conference after the ballot tally.

'There have been allegation of fraud. Those are serious charges to recklessly offer out there. To give a claim of fraud without any evidence, I think it unacceptable,' Eugene Pettis, a lawyer for Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes said.</s>Democrat Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession in Florida's gubernatorial race Saturday after a recount was ordered in the too-close-to-call race.

"I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote," Gillum tweeted.

Unofficial election results showed Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis ahead of Gillum by less than 0.5 percentage points. Under state law, such a margin requires a machine recount of ballots.

On Saturday, Florida's secretary of state ordered a recount for three statewide races, including the governor and U.S. Senate contests.

The margins in all races remain well under the half-percent needed to automatically trigger a machine recount. More than 8 million votes will be recounted.

In the Senate race, the Republican challenger, Gov. Rick Scott, claimed victory just before midnight Tuesday, but the incumbent, Democrat Bill Nelson, never conceded the race. Now, Scott leads Nelson by 12,562 votes or a margin of .15 percent.

The contentious race led to lawsuits being filed by both Scott and Nelson. Scott alleged "rampant fraud" in the election and asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Palm Beach and Broward counties.

In the race for the state's agriculture commissioner, Republican candidate Matt Caldwell and his campaign committee also filed a lawsuit Friday against Broward elections chief Brenda Snipes seeking to stop the counting of ballots that were not in hand when the polls closed.

The Florida Democratic Party has accused Caldwell of trying to interfere with legal ballot counting. Caldwell is down by 5,326 votes or a margin of .06 percent in his race against Democrat Nikki Fried.</s>TALLAHASSEE — Republican Gov. Rick Scott, claiming south Florida election officials are fraudulently mishandling ballots, asked the state's top law enforcement agency on Thursday to investigate and filed lawsuits demanding access to ballots narrowing his lead against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

"I will not stand idly by while unethical liberals try to steal an election," Scott said during a hastily called media appearance Thursday night outside the Governor's Mansion. The event was organized by his political team.

"The people of Florida deserve fairness and transparency," Scott said in prepared remarks. He did not take questions from reporters gathered for the appearance after announcing he was requesting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate an election in which he was a candidate.

Scott accused election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties, two Democratic strongholds, of "rampant fraud" in a vote counting process that has continued two days after the election and sharply narrowed GOP leads in statewide races, even flipping the state agriculture commission race from a Republican Matt Caldwell lead to Democrat Nikki Fried advantage of more than 2,000 votes on Thursday.

“Tonight I am asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate this immediately and I am considering every single legal option available,” he said. “No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers form D.C. will be allowed to steal this election from the voters of this great state.”

President Donald Trump, who held up GOP wins in Florida as evidence of his success in the midterm elections, chimed in with a tweet on Scott's call for a state investigation Thursday night. "Law enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with election fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott!”

Efforts to reach election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties failed Thursday night.

"If he has credible proof of rampant fraud, he should make it public immediately," said state Rep. Evan Jenne, who represents south Broward.

Nelson's campaign responded to Scott's claim by criticizing it as a sign he is fearful of losing the election.

“The goal here is to see that all the votes in Florida are counted and counted accurately. Rick Scott’s action appears to be politically motivated and borne out of desperation,” Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said.

The additional ballots counted over the past two days in Broward and Palm Beach have chopped Scott's statewide lead over Nelson by more than half to about 15,000 votes out of more than 8.1 million cast. The additional votes, identified by the county offices as absentee and early in-person votes, also narrowed Republican Ron DeSantis' more than 80,000-vote lead in the Florida governor's race over Democrat Andrew Gillum to about 36,000.

Gillum, who had conceded his race Tuesday night, tweeted in response to Scott's statements that "counting votes isn't partisan. It's democracy. Count every vote."

The small margins in those races likely will trigger an automatic recount under Florida law once all of the votes are submitted to the state on Saturday.

"Every day since the election, the left-wing activists in Broward County have been coming out with more and more ballots out of nowhere," Scott said. "We all know what is going on. Everyone in Florida knows exactly what is happening. Their goal is to keep mysteriously finding more votes until the election turns out the way they want it.”

Caldwell applauded Scott's action in a statement Thursday, calling it "decisive action to uphold the integrity and fairness of this election.

"To echo the governor, it is unacceptable that we cannot get an accurate count of how many outstanding ballots remain, while boxes of ballots continue to be 'found,'" Caldwell said.

While ballot counting continued Thursday in Palm Beach and Broward counties, the state's other 65 counties reported completing counts from their early and absentee ballots hours after the polls closed Tuesday.

Earlier on Thursday, Scott's campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed state lawsuits demanding access to the south Florida ballots, claiming Broward and Palm Beach elections supervisors withheld information about the ballots and requests for the campaign to inspect and review the vote-counting process.

"The lack of transparency raises substantial concerns about the validity of the

 election process," states the lawsuit, filed by Scott's campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Scott's lawsuit demands a hearing to discuss the handling of the ballots and immediate access to inspect and copy ballots.
As the Florida Senate election heads to a mandatory recount, United States President Donald Trump and Rick Scott claim, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud occurred in Florida during the recent midterm election.