Last updated on July 21st, 2023 at 05:34 pm
President Donald Trump declared that “an honest vote count is no longer possible†in the controversial Florida midterm elections for the state’s governor and U.S. Senate positions. The president is now claiming (with no evidence) that many of the ballots are “missing or forged.â€
Trump tweeted:
“The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!â€
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The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
Both races — Florida Governor Rick Scott Scott versus Democratic Senator Bill Nelson for the Senate seat and former Rep. Ron DeSantis verses Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum for governor — are now headed for recounts after they appeared to be going for Republicans on election night.
In the days after the election, when more ballots were found and counted in Democratic-leaning areas, like Broward County and Palm Beach County, more votes started going to Democrats. This greatly reduced the leads of the Republican candidates, triggering automatic recounts.
In typical fashion Trump made outlandish charges with no evidence to back up his claims of voter fraud.
Florida offers military and overseas voters a 10-day extension which may be what Trump is talking about in his comment about “new ballots†showing up “out of nowhere.â€
Florida’s election information website says:
“The overseas voter’s vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked or dated by Election Day and received within 10 days of the election in order to be counted, provided the ballot is otherwise proper.â€
Despite claims by the governor and the president, Florida election officials have continuously maintained that they have not seen ANY evidence of voter fraud taking place in Broward or Palm Beach counties or anywhere else in Florida.
Scott went on national television on Sunday and accused his opponent Nelson of trying to “commit fraud to try to win this election.†Scott’s campaign said it has filed lawsuits against Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher, the election supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Both of these counties are considered Democratic strongholds in Florida.
In response to Scott’s lawsuits Democrats said his moves show desperation by a vulnerable candidate sitting on a precarious vote lead. Nelson’s campaign continued to assert that he would be proclaimed the victor once all votes are counted.
MSNBC host Joy Reid tweeted Nelson’s response to the lawsuits.
“Senator â¦Bill Nelson’s response to Rick Scott’s legal maneuvers in Florida.”
Senator â¦Bill Nelson’s response to Rick Scott’s legal maneuvers in Florida. pic.twitter.com/dwTtEJtiMC
— Diana Was Right (@JoyAnnReid) November 11, 2018
Clearly Scott and his mentor Trump are growing desperate as signs continue to show that the result of Tuesday’s elections was a massive Blue Wave throughout the United States.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
