Broward County Missed Recount Deadline By 2 Minutes

LAUDERHILL, FL — Florida election officials said three of the state’s 67 counties failed to submit machine recounts as of Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline, including Broward’s embattled Supervisor of Elections Brenda C. Snipes. Broward missed the deadline by just two minutes, according to state officials while Hillsborough and Palm Beach Counties chose to submit the same unofficial returns they submitted on Saturday.

“I have taken responsibility for every act in this office — good, bad or indifferent,” said Snipes following the missed deadline. “I have always held myself accountable.”

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Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner ordered a hand recount in two races following Thursday’s deadline — the hotly contested race between Democrat incumbent Bill Nelson and Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott for Nelson’s Senate seat and the race for Florida’s next commissioner of agriculture between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell.

Detzner did not order a hand recount in the close gubernatorial contest between Republican Ron DeSantis and Tallahassee Democrat Mayor Andrew Gillum because the machine recount did not meet the state threshold for a hand count. This will apparently lead to confirmation of the unofficial election night victory for the Republican DeSantis.

Gillum vowed to press on for all votes to be counted.

“A vote denied is justice denied. The state of Florida must count every legally cast vote,” he said. “We plan to do all we can to ensure that every voice is heard in this process. Voters need to know that their decision to participate in this election, and every election, matters. It is not over until every legally casted vote is counted.”

Ronna McDaniel, who chairs the Repubublican National Committee in Washington, D.C., visited the headquarters of Broward’s Supervisor of Elections on Friday as the hand recount was underway. She told CBS 12 of West Palm Beach that thousands of Broward County ballots that did not include a selection for the Senate race did not appear to be the result of machine error from what she could tell early in the process.

“Based on what I’ve seen, and what I saw across the room today, many voters in Broward County did not vote for Senate,” McDaniel said. “There were not problems with the machines. This is absolutely an undervote.”

An undervote occurs when ballots include votes for some races but not others — in this case the governor’s race and lesser state races — but not the Senate race.

The hand recounts taking place across all 67 counties will focus on the undervotes and overvotes. Unlike an undervote, an overvote is when a voter designated more choices than allowable in the recounted race, according to state election officials. See also Patch Analysis Reveals 38,593 Undervotes In Florida

The results of the hand recount are due to the Department of State no later than noon Sunday.

Palm Beach County was hampered by equipment malfunctions and chose to submit last Saturday’s results when it became apparent that workers could not complete the machine recount on time. Hillsborough County officials completed the machine recount by the deadline but chose to resubmit Saturday’s results, which included 846 more votes than the machine recount found. Read more.

See also Federal Judge Orders Florida To Give Some Voters More Time

"As the supervisor I take full responsibility. That's my job," insisted Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher when it became apparent that the deadline would be missed.

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"It was not for lack of human effort. You saw the human effort. It was so incredible, and I thank everybody who participated," Bucher told reporters. "The fact of the matter is that when mechanicals fail, there's not a lot I can do about it."

In Broward County, Snipes has come under fire from President Trump and a host of Republicans as the commander-in-chief lambasted Democrats over what he dubbed "The Broward effect."

She told reporters earlier this week that she may step down or choose not to seek re-election based on her experience with this election. See also Broward Election Supervisor May Have Had Enough

Much of the criticism and frustration stems from the fact that more than 8 million Floridians took time away from their jobs, families and schools to vote in an election they were told would possibly be one of the most consequential of their lifetimes.

Yet, there has been growing uncertainty over the results, particularly with respect to the U.S. Senate contest.

ProPublica's Electionland project monitors voting problems around the country. If you had trouble voting, or if you saw something you want to tell Electionland about, here’s how.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

A Republican Party observer (right) watches as a worker at the Palm Beach County Supervisor Of Elections goes through a stack of damaged ballots on Thursday (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)