Broward recount appears to confirm thousands skipped voting in hotly contested Senate race
Manual recounts are underway in Florida for the U.S. Senate race and the state agriculture commissioner race. Election workers are reviewing ballots in which vote-counting machines identified that a voter did not make a choice in a race or voted for more than one candidate.
Larry Barszewski, Lois K. Solomon, Rafael Olmeda and Skyler SwisherContact Reporters
South Florida Sun Sentinel
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-manual-recount-friday-20181116-story.html
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson pinned his hopes for winning his re-election bid on a hand recount in Florida’s biggest Democratic stronghold, where a baffling number of voters seem to have skipped his contest against challenger Rick Scott — but the votes just weren’t there.
Across the state, election officials began poring over 93,000 votes in the hotly contested Senate race between Nelson, the Democrat, and Gov. Scott, his Republican rival, examining whether a definite candidate was chosen in each ballot.
Nelson’s campaign had zeroed in on Broward, which had almost 31,000 overvotes and undervotes, the most of any county in the state. An undervote is where voters picked no candidate, and an overvote is where a voter selected more than one.
Hundreds of workers sat at tables reviewing ballots by hand at the elections office, while party representatives and attorneys looked on. Down by about 12,600 votes statewide, Nelson needed most of those Broward undervotes to somehow show the voters intended to support him. It didn’t happen.
Some Democrats believe poor ballot design caused Broward voters to skip the race. A South Florida Sun Sentinel analysis showed many voters might have glossed over the contest because of its placement on the ballot. The contest was tucked in the bottom left corner of the ballot, underneath the instructions.
In Broward, about 25,000 fewer voters made a selection in the Senate race than in the governor’s race. One prominent Democratic strategist said that he doesn’t think Nelson would find the votes to come back and win.
Steve Schale said he thinks the poor-placement theory makes sense.
“Frankly, I am not surprised it is ballot design, but that’s why we have a recount,” said Schale, who directed former President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign in Florida. “You can’t decide elections based on hunches.”
He said he had been doubtful that Nelson could close the gap, even if a machine error had helped Nelson in Broward County.
Cynthia Busch, chair of the Broward County Democratic Party, said Broward’s poorly designed ballot hurt Nelson’s re-election chances. “This is a longstanding problem in Florida,” Busch said. “People don't just skip something like that.”
She said that she didn’t get an opportunity to review the ballot and provide feedback before the election. Placing the contest on the left corner of the ballot, underneath the instructions, doesn’t fall in line with guidelines established by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
On Friday, Joe D’Alessandro, director of election planning and development at the Broward Supervisor of Elections office, disputed the notion that the ballot design was to blame, saying it didn’t matter because the Senate contest was between two of the best-known politicians in the state. He argued voters intentionally opted to leave the Senate race blank.
“You think I’m going to disparage my own ballot design?” D’Alessandro asked. “No, I think it is the voter.”
Broward’s numbers were not released and they are not final. The county’s Canvassing Board has until noon Sunday to report its results to the state. But as the board separated disputed ballots into separate piles Friday, the overwhelming majority showed voters really did skip the Senate race, either because the voters weren’t interested or because of the ballot design.
The hand recount came a day after the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office missed a state deadline by two minutes Thursday to submit its machine-recount results, which led to the state rejecting them.
Still, Broward County can submit updated numbers Sunday, which can include any changes as a result of the machine recount, a spokeswoman for the Department of State said Friday.
While both Nelson and Scott were picking up some additional votes Friday as the Broward Canvassing Board settled disputes that arose during the hand recount, the board wasn’t announcing the changes that were agreed upon at the tables.
“If it's not mandated by the state, we don't do it,” D’Alessandro said.
In Palm Beach County, where there were far fewer undervotes and overvotes, Democratic observer and attorney Sean Domnick said Nelson picked up 118 votes during the recount, while Scott got 64. There were 20 votes that had to be thrown out because the voters’ intent could not be determined.
Miami-Dade County began its hand recount in the Senate on Thursday night while Palm Beach County also began its manual recount Friday.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner last Saturday ordered machine recounts in races for the U.S. Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner, as well as the Florida House District 89 race and two other legislative contests, all of which fell within a 0.50 percent margin that requires recounts.
Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said the canvassing board will begin a manual recount Saturday morning for the District 89 race, where Democrat Jim Bonfiglio trails Republican Mike Caruso 37 votes out of 80,000 cast.
The board had originally planned to recount the agriculture commissioner race after the Senate race because that was the sequence of votes on Palm Beach County’s ballots, but a federal judge asked the officials to reconsider the order to make sure the House 89 race is decided before Sunday’s deadline to complete the recounts.
During a hearing Thursday, Bucher told U.S. District Judge Mark Walker that her office likely won’t be able to finish a mandatory hand recount in the state House contest until mid- to late-December, due to mechanical failures, antiquated machines and an exhausted staff that’s been working around-the-clock since the Nov. 6 election.
Manual recounts will continue Saturday throughout the state for agriculture commissioner race between Republican Matt Caldwell and Democrat Nikki Fried, who leads by fewer than 6,000 of more than 8 million cast. In that race, Broward plans to review 22,092 ballots by hand.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used to supplement this report.
Manual recounts are underway in Florida for the U.S. Senate race and the state agriculture commissioner race. Election workers are reviewing ballots in which vote-counting machines identified that a voter did not make a choice in a race or voted for more than one candidate.
Larry Barszewski, Lois K. Solomon, Rafael Olmeda and Skyler SwisherContact Reporters
South Florida Sun Sentinel
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-manual-recount-friday-20181116-story.html
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson pinned his hopes for winning his re-election bid on a hand recount in Florida’s biggest Democratic stronghold, where a baffling number of voters seem to have skipped his contest against challenger Rick Scott — but the votes just weren’t there.
Across the state, election officials began poring over 93,000 votes in the hotly contested Senate race between Nelson, the Democrat, and Gov. Scott, his Republican rival, examining whether a definite candidate was chosen in each ballot.
Nelson’s campaign had zeroed in on Broward, which had almost 31,000 overvotes and undervotes, the most of any county in the state. An undervote is where voters picked no candidate, and an overvote is where a voter selected more than one.
Hundreds of workers sat at tables reviewing ballots by hand at the elections office, while party representatives and attorneys looked on. Down by about 12,600 votes statewide, Nelson needed most of those Broward undervotes to somehow show the voters intended to support him. It didn’t happen.
Some Democrats believe poor ballot design caused Broward voters to skip the race. A South Florida Sun Sentinel analysis showed many voters might have glossed over the contest because of its placement on the ballot. The contest was tucked in the bottom left corner of the ballot, underneath the instructions.
In Broward, about 25,000 fewer voters made a selection in the Senate race than in the governor’s race. One prominent Democratic strategist said that he doesn’t think Nelson would find the votes to come back and win.
Steve Schale said he thinks the poor-placement theory makes sense.
“Frankly, I am not surprised it is ballot design, but that’s why we have a recount,” said Schale, who directed former President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign in Florida. “You can’t decide elections based on hunches.”
He said he had been doubtful that Nelson could close the gap, even if a machine error had helped Nelson in Broward County.
Cynthia Busch, chair of the Broward County Democratic Party, said Broward’s poorly designed ballot hurt Nelson’s re-election chances. “This is a longstanding problem in Florida,” Busch said. “People don't just skip something like that.”
She said that she didn’t get an opportunity to review the ballot and provide feedback before the election. Placing the contest on the left corner of the ballot, underneath the instructions, doesn’t fall in line with guidelines established by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
On Friday, Joe D’Alessandro, director of election planning and development at the Broward Supervisor of Elections office, disputed the notion that the ballot design was to blame, saying it didn’t matter because the Senate contest was between two of the best-known politicians in the state. He argued voters intentionally opted to leave the Senate race blank.
“You think I’m going to disparage my own ballot design?” D’Alessandro asked. “No, I think it is the voter.”
Broward’s numbers were not released and they are not final. The county’s Canvassing Board has until noon Sunday to report its results to the state. But as the board separated disputed ballots into separate piles Friday, the overwhelming majority showed voters really did skip the Senate race, either because the voters weren’t interested or because of the ballot design.
The hand recount came a day after the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office missed a state deadline by two minutes Thursday to submit its machine-recount results, which led to the state rejecting them.
Still, Broward County can submit updated numbers Sunday, which can include any changes as a result of the machine recount, a spokeswoman for the Department of State said Friday.
While both Nelson and Scott were picking up some additional votes Friday as the Broward Canvassing Board settled disputes that arose during the hand recount, the board wasn’t announcing the changes that were agreed upon at the tables.
“If it's not mandated by the state, we don't do it,” D’Alessandro said.
In Palm Beach County, where there were far fewer undervotes and overvotes, Democratic observer and attorney Sean Domnick said Nelson picked up 118 votes during the recount, while Scott got 64. There were 20 votes that had to be thrown out because the voters’ intent could not be determined.
Miami-Dade County began its hand recount in the Senate on Thursday night while Palm Beach County also began its manual recount Friday.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner last Saturday ordered machine recounts in races for the U.S. Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner, as well as the Florida House District 89 race and two other legislative contests, all of which fell within a 0.50 percent margin that requires recounts.
Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said the canvassing board will begin a manual recount Saturday morning for the District 89 race, where Democrat Jim Bonfiglio trails Republican Mike Caruso 37 votes out of 80,000 cast.
The board had originally planned to recount the agriculture commissioner race after the Senate race because that was the sequence of votes on Palm Beach County’s ballots, but a federal judge asked the officials to reconsider the order to make sure the House 89 race is decided before Sunday’s deadline to complete the recounts.
During a hearing Thursday, Bucher told U.S. District Judge Mark Walker that her office likely won’t be able to finish a mandatory hand recount in the state House contest until mid- to late-December, due to mechanical failures, antiquated machines and an exhausted staff that’s been working around-the-clock since the Nov. 6 election.
Manual recounts will continue Saturday throughout the state for agriculture commissioner race between Republican Matt Caldwell and Democrat Nikki Fried, who leads by fewer than 6,000 of more than 8 million cast. In that race, Broward plans to review 22,092 ballots by hand.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used to supplement this report.
