The Florida secretary of state is ordering recounts in the U.S. Senate, commissioner of agriculture and governor races, an unprecedented review of three 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 of all three 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 less than 0.5 percentage points, which will require a machine recount of ballots.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott's lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is less than 0.25 percentage points, which will require a hand recount of ballots from tabulation machines that couldn't determine which candidate got the vote.

The Florida agriculture commission race between Democratic candidate Nikki Fried and Republican candidate Matt Caldwell has flipped and is heading for a recount.

The election was initially called for Caldwell, but according to the Florida Election Watch website, Fried moved ahead of Caldwell by 2,920 votes on Thursday.

Previous: Florida governor, Senate and agriculture races could be headed for recounts

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Ken Detzner, the secretary of state of Florida, a key swing US state, on Saturday ordered machine recounts for three razor-thin races for governor, US senator and the state’s agriculture commissioner.

The results of the recounts are due by 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday, said Detzner, Xinhua news agency reported.

Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott has seen his lead narrow over incumbent Democratic US Senator Bill Nelson to about 12,500 votes, or 0.15 per cent, by Saturday afternoon, according to a CNBC report.

In the race for governor between former Republican US House Representative Ron DeSantis and Democratic mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum, DeSantis was leading by 0.41 percentage points.

Gillum conceded to DeSantis on Tuesday night, but later said every vote should count.

A third statewide race to be recounted is the agriculture commissioner race between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell. Fried currently held only a 5,326-vote lead, a margin of 0.07 per cent.

Florida law requires a machine recount when the leading candidate’s margin is 0.5 percentage points or less, and a hand recount if it’s 0.25 or less.

Florida has been seen as a key swing state for decades and is expected to play a critical role in the 2020 US general elections.</s>The Florida secretary of state is ordering recounts 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 less than 0.5 percentage points, which will require a machine recount of ballots.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott's lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is less than 0.25 percentage points, which will require a hand recount of ballots from tabulation machines that couldn't determine which candidate got the vote</s>Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races.</s>According to the New York Times, Florida officials announced Saturday that with the elections for senator, governor and agriculture commissioner deemed too close to call, that mandatory machine recounts are in order.

Gov. Rick Scott, whose sizable lead has evaporated to less than 13,000 votes as ballots continue to be tallied, has cried foul. The target of his ire, Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes, is under fire for not only admitting to tabulating roughly a dozen rejected ballots, but failing to confirm if she has finished counting them all.

“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 in a statement. “The public deserves a clear and direct answer.”

The deadline for the state’s 67 counties to hand in their unofficial results was today at noon. As such, three statewide races are legally required to go to a recount since they remain under a 0.5 percentage point margin:
• The Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Bill Nelson (D)
• The governor’s race between Ron DeSantis (R) and Andrew Gillum (D)
• The commissioner of agriculture race between Nikki Fried (D) and Matt Caldwell (R)

The order to initiate the recount is expected this afternoon from Secretary of State Ken Detzner, an appointee of Mr. Scott. While tallies are expected to begin soon as well, starting with the larger Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Smaller counties are expected to begin tomorrow.

Each county has until Thursday to run all of its ballots through counting machines again. While any race that remains within a margin of 0.25 of a percentage point or less will have until the 18th to conduct a manual recount.

Of important note, the odds of Gillum emerging triumphant in a recount appear to be low, as he currently trails DeSantis by 33,600 votes—or 0.41 percentage points.</s>MIAMI — The race for Florida governor appears headed for a recount, as Democrat Andrew Gillum continues to gain on Republican Ron DeSantis during the tallying of the final uncounted ballots cast in the midterm elections.

Gillum, the outgoing mayor of Tallahassee, conceded the race Tuesday night before 11 p.m. after results appeared to show him too far behind his opponent to make up the difference. DeSantis, a former congressman, gave his victory speech shortly after.

But thousands of votes remained untallied. And over the next 36 hours, the margins gradually shrank.

As of 9 a.m., DeSantis’ lead was just 42,948 votes out of 8,189,305 ballots cast — equal to 0.52 percent of the vote. Concession speech or no, Florida law requires an automatic machine recount in any race where the margin of victory is within one-half of 1 percentage point.

By 2 p.m., Gillum gained on DeSantis by another 4,441 votes, and now trails by only 0.47 percent.

Thousands of ballots still remain uncounted, so it’s too soon to say whether a recount will indeed happen in the race for governor. Florida’s 67 elections supervisors must send their unofficial numbers to the state by 1 p.m. Saturday, and campaign volunteers were scrambled around the state Thursday as supervisors prepared to examine provisional ballots cast by voters with unresolved issues at their polling places.

Late Thursday morning, Gillum campaign spokeswoman Johanna Cervone said the campaign was prepared for a recount effort.

“It has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” she said in a statement. “Our campaign, along with our attorney Barry Richard, is monitoring the situation closely and is ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount.”

The race for Agriculture Commissioner and U.S. Senate also appear headed for recounts, although those races are closer and could force the state to conduct recounts by hand, which is required when the margins between two candidates are within a quarter of a percent.

Voters have until 5 p.m. to address any outstanding problems with their provisional ballots.

But all eyes were on Broward County, which according to information published by the Florida Division of Elections has yet to report all its early voting and absentee voting totals. Broward is a Democratic party stronghold.</s>Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races.</s>Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races.</s>Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida secretary of state orders recounts in U.S. Senate, governor races.</s>TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Florida secretary of state ordered recounts in the U.S. Senate and governor races on Saturday, 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 after the unofficial results in both races fell within the margin that by law triggers a recount. His office was unaware of any other time either a governor race or U.S. Senate race required a recount, let alone both in the same election.

The unofficial results show that Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is 0.14 percentage points.

Detzner ordered machine recounts in both races. Once completed, if the difference in the races are at 0.25 percentage points or below, a hand recount will be ordered, said Department of State spokeswoman Sarah Revell.

Saturday’s development’s return Florida to the center of a major political drama 18 years after an infamous presidential recount left control of the White House undecided for more than a month.

The latest recount underscores the deep divides plaguing one of the most critical states in American politics. Beyond determining the governorship, it will decide whether Nelson returns to Washington for a fourth term or whether Republicans will pad their majority in the Senate.

Florida’s 67 counties will decide when to begin the recounts. They could start the moment Detzner issued his order, or elections officials can wait until Sunday or Monday. But they must finish the machine recounts by 3 p.m. Thursday.

Gillum conceded to DeSantis on Tuesday night, but when the results began to narrow, he said that every vote should count and he’s not expected to block a recount. DeSantis has said little about the recount and is instead proceeding as if he won the election, appointing a transition team and preparing to take office in January.

The battle for Nelson’s Senate seat has been much more heated, with both sides filing lawsuits. Scott has said Nelson is trying to steal the election, while Nelson is accusing Scott of trying to stop elections officials from counting every ballot.

President Donald Trump has also weighed in on Florida’s close elections.

Trump took Scott’s side on Friday, telling reporters that the federal government could get involved and adding: ‘’all of the sudden they are finding votes out of nowhere.”

‘’What’s going on in Florida is a disgrace,” he said.

The scene was reminiscent of the 2000 presidential recount, when it took more than five weeks for Florida to declare George W. Bush the victor over Vice President Al Gore by 537 votes, and thus giving Bush the presidency.

Florida was mocked for the way it handled the infamous 2000 recount, especially since there was no uniform process then on how to proceed. That has changed, with the Legislature passing a clear procedure on how a recount should be conducted.

Florida is also conducting a recount in a third statewide race. Democrat Nikki Fried had a 0.07 percentage point lead lead over Republican state Rep. Matt Caldwell in the race for agriculture commissioner, one of Florida’s three Cabinet seats.
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner orders machine recounts in the U.S. Senate race and the state's governor and agriculture commissioner races as required by law when the lead is less than 0.5 percent. Results are due by 3 p.m. EST Thursday. Should the results still be within 0.25 percentage points, a manual recount will be triggered, with results due on November 18.