An emailed press release from the Republican Party of Florida may have been premature.
"The RPOF congratulates Senator-elect Rick Scott for a hard-fought victory, and thanks him for his selfless and successful tenure as Florida Governor. Tonight, the people of the Sunshine State sent Bill Nelson into retirement after 46 years of being nothing but an empty suit in Washington, D.C. Gov. Scott, on the other hand, has been a champion for Florida, and there is no doubt we can expect the same tenacity from him as U.S. Senator. We look forward to having two Republican Senators representing the State of Florida and actually getting things done,” the RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia wrote in the press release.
However, Rick Scott hasn't won.
Not.
Quite.
Yet.
See, when the difference in votes is less than one-half percent, the Florida Constitution mandates a recount. And soon-to-be-former Governor Rick Scott won 50.2% of the votes (4,073,835), while incumbent senator Bill Nelson (the one the Florida GOP called an "empty suit") won 49.8% of the votes (4,039,298).
That's what's happening now. Of course, that's not automatic.
In addition, many votes have not yet been counted. As of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, the Florida State Department of Elections reported that Broward, Duval and Palm Beach counties had not yet counted their mail ballots. Broward has also not yet completed counting its early voting ballots, and only 11 of Florida's 67 counties have counted provisional ballots. Finally, all the counties have yet to count the 10-day overseas vote-by-mail ballots.
Those overseas ballots must be postmarked by election day, but the FSDOE allows 10 days after election day for the ballots to arrive at the supervisor of elections.
Usually these provisional ballots and overseas ballots won't swing a race, but usually the winner has more than a half-percent margin of "victory."
