Unresolved High-Profile Elections Could be Headed to Recounts

(Reuters) —
A worker prepares volunteers to verify ballots at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, Nov. 8, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

High-profile U.S. electoral races in Georgia, Florida and Arizona remained unresolved on Thursday, two days after the vote, with the prospect of legal challenges, recounts and ballot reviews setting the stage for possible weeks of uncertainty.

In Georgia, where Republican Brian Kemp declared victory in the governor’s contest on Wednesday on a narrow lead, campaign officials for Democrat Stacey Abrams on Thursday vowed to pursue litigation to ensure all votes are counted.

In Florida’s U.S. Senate race, a lawyer for Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson said a recount could still deliver him a victory despite a slim lead for Republican Rick Scott.

The Florida governor’s race between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum also appeared headed for an automatic recount, after DeSantis’ lead narrowed on Thursday, despite Gillum having already conceded.

The hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Arizona between two congresswomen, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally, appeared days away from a final call, with hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be tallied and McSally holding a small edge.

Democrats on Tuesday won their first majority in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2010, while Republicans were set to expand their majority in the U.S. Senate.

The still-undecided races will not tip the balance in either chamber of Congress. There are also a number of unresolved contests in the House, including in California, where many ballots are still to be counted.

Abrams Still Fighting

Abrams is vying to become the first black woman elected to serve as governor of a U.S. state.

The Georgia contest came under national scrutiny because of Kemp’s role as the state’s top election official. Voting rights groups and prominent Democrats accused the Republican of using his position to suppress minority votes, an allegation he strongly denied.

Kemp on Thursday said he had resigned as Georgia’s Secretary of State, saying the move would ensure “public confidence” in the final results, while freeing him to focus on preparing for his new role as governor.

The Abrams campaign told reporters that there were enough uncounted ballots to force a runoff election. Under state law, if no candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers advance to a second vote in December. The election included a third-party candidate.

Kemp’s vote count stood at 50.33 percent as of Thursday morning, according to unofficial results.

“We are in this race until we are convinced that every vote is counted,” the Abrams campaign’s chairwoman, Allegra Lawrence Hardy, told a news conference. The campaign said it would file the first of what could be a wave of legal actions on behalf of voters in one county who had difficulty voting absentee.

As Florida election officials continued to count votes, Scott’s lead was narrowing. Nelson trailed by around 17,300 votes, or 0.22 percent, below the state’s 0.25 threshold for a hand recount.

“The results are unknown,” said Marc Elias, an attorney for Nelson’s campaign. Historically, Democrats tend to pick up votes in recounts, especially hand recounts, he said.

Elias also pledged legal action if the campaign found that rejected ballots due to signature mismatches were disproportionately hurting minority voters.

Scott’s campaign on Thursday accused Nelson of trying to “steal” the race.

“It is sad and embarrassing that Bill Nelson would resort to these low tactics,” a campaign statement said.

In the Florida governor’s race, DeSantis’ lead had winnowed to about 38,500 votes on Thursday afternoon, or 0.47 percent of the vote. The state conducts an electronic recount when the margin falls below 0.5 percent.

Gillum’s campaign said it was prepared for any outcome, including a recount.

“We are committed to ensuring every single vote in Florida is counted,” Gillum spokeswoman Johanna Cervone said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate race in Arizona was still too close to call, with election officials expected to take days to tally hundreds of thousands of outstanding ballots.

Republican McSally had the support of 49.4 percent of voters, and Democrat Sinema at 48.4 percent, as of Thursday morning.

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