webfact Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Trump seeks end for Florida recount as Republicans' leads shrink By Letitia Stein and Susan Heavey FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Bill Nelson speaks in Orlando, Florida, U.S., June 12, 2016 and Florida Governor Rick Scott appears in Washington, DC, U.S., September 29, 2017 respectively. REUTERS/Kevin Kolczynski and REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photos/File Photo TAMPA, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Florida election officials to end a recount and declare his fellow Republicans the winners of disputed races in last week's midterm elections as a judge urged both parties to be careful with claims of fraud. As Florida officials scrambled to review more than 8 million ballots by Thursday, Trump, without providing evidence, cast doubt on the recount process. Leads by the Republican candidates in the races for a seat in the U.S. Senate and for the governor's office shrank as more ballots were tallied following last Tuesday's election. State law mandates recounts in elections where margin of victory is within 0.5 percentage points. Trump called for an end to the recount even though state rules allow election officials to wait 10 days for absentee ballots submitted by registered voters living outside the United States, including active-duty military personnel. A machine recount began over the weekend in the race between outgoing Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott and Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, with another recount underway for the Florida gubernatorial race between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum. Republicans are eager to cement victories in a key battleground state after maintaining their control of the U.S. Senate in last week's midterm congressional elections, while Democrats are eying another possible state governorship win. Both parties accused the other of trying to subvert democracy. Scott on Sunday had asked a Broward County judge to issue an emergency injunction calling for law enforcement to seize all voting machines, tallying devices and ballots when they are not being used until the end of the recount and any related litigation. The judge rejected that request on Monday, according to Marc Elias, an attorney representing the Nelson campaign. The Scott campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Broward County Circuit Judge Jack Tuter urged both sides to be restrained in their public statements as the state faces a repeat of its dramatic role in the 2000 U.S. presidential vote recount. "I am urging (the lawyers) to tamp down the rhetoric," Tuter told a hearing, according to the Miami Herald. "We have to be careful about what we say." 'ZERO EVIDENCE' Trump repeated his complaints over the Florida races in a Twitter post on Monday. The president instead called on state authorities to go with the initial vote count totals. Trump alleged voter fraud had taken place, but provided no evidence. "The Florida Election should be called in favour 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!" he wrote. Studies have found no evidence of large-scale voter fraud in the United States, though through the nation's history courts have found evidence of policies intended to suppress voting by minorities. "There's zero evidence backing up claims by Republican extremists that Democrats are trying to steal the election," Nelson said on Twitter on Monday. "What we're trying to do is make sure every lawful vote is counted." Nelson on Monday called on Scott to recuse himself from playing any role in overseeing the recount. Florida law gives local election officials until the Saturday after an election to submit their first round of unofficial election results. It is common for elections supervisors to process results well after election night. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which has said it will review allegations of criminal fraud, stated that it had no active investigations as of late Friday. Scott has said he won the Senate race even as the ballots are tallied again, telling Fox News on Monday: "I want to make sure there's a free and fair election. But there's laws. Comply with the laws." Neighbouring Georgia's gubernatorial race also remains undecided as does the U.S. Senate contest in Arizona. Several U.S House of Representative races are also still too close to call. Democrats seized control of the House in last week's election. The Democratic National Committee and veterans' advocacy group VoteVets Action Fund filed a new lawsuit on Monday asking a federal judge to order state officials to accept all mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day, rather than only those received by 7 p.m. that day, the same time that polls closed. The lawsuit noted that nearly 875,000 of the 3.5 million vote-by-mail ballots requested this year had not been counted as received by the Nov. 6 deadline. The lawsuit noted that voters had no control over potential mail delays resulting from U.S. Postal Service delivery changes, or from an October bomb scare that evacuated a distribution centre in a small and heavily minority community outside Miami. (Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida, and Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Lisa Lambert in Washington and Zachary Fagenson in Miami; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) -- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Langsuan Man Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 He really doesn't understand how the American Election systems works does he ! Didn't Putin have enough time to teach him some basics, like separation of powers between the Federal Government and the States ? And whatever comes out of his mouth has absolutely no effect on Florida or how it does it's recount 9 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckamuck Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm 10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bristolboy Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 minute ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm It's funny how in a state with a Republican governor and a Republican legislture, the state officials in charge of the counting say that there is absolutely no evidence of fraud. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article221469215.html 11 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckamuck Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 3 minutes ago, bristolboy said: It's funny how in a state with a Republican governor and a Republican legislture, the state officials in charge of the counting say that there is absolutely no evidence of fraud. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article221469215.html Sure, that's funny too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thailand Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 Trump's legacy? "Blah , bah etc but provided no evidence." 8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorG Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Broward County will keep "finding" new voter slips until the Dems miraculously win. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post asiaexpat Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 Not to worry, the GOP will just let the GOP Supreme Court decide like they did once before. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post alanrchase Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm Well it would be a bit silly for the Republicans in charge to hide votes for their candidate. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm Well, it could have been funnier in 2000? Edited November 13, 2018 by mtls2005 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mfd101 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 The thing with Trump (and, it seems, all too many so-called 'Republicans') is that he/they don't even PRETEND to be moral or honest or decent. Perhaps they could look to Thailand for some lessons in maintaining appearances. 7 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Mee Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm And they continue to find more ballets every day? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mtls2005 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 I am under the impression that state residents who are outside the country (or stationed on the southern border), say military personnel, must have their ballots postmarked on election day. Obviously, mail can take some time to make it bake to the U.S. It would be very un-American to disallow these ballots, which amazingly to the president anyway, who doesn't seem to understand how the mail system works, which are "magically appearing"? Trump, in his own words, on the validity of elections...wait for it... 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wwest5829 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm That is what happens when the Republican Party has purposely gerrymandered, closed or moved polling places to make it more difficult to votes and purged registered voters wholesale. They make no apology for fighting against the majority of voters who are viewed as opposed to their interests. I understand, the majority of Americans are opposed. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wwest5829 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 34 minutes ago, Boon Mee said: And they continue to find more ballets every day? Which begs the question if those who purposefully gerrymander, move or close polling places to make it more difficult for citizens to vote, purge registered voters wholesale are also capable of delaying, or “misplacing” voter returns? I do allow it could very well include incompetence of those responsible for overseeing elections .... like the Republican candidate for Governor who was responsible for overseeing elections in Georgia. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wwest5829 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 42 minutes ago, mfd101 said: The thing with Trump (and, it seems, all too many so-called 'Republicans') is that he/they don't even PRETEND to be moral or honest or decent. Perhaps they could look to Thailand for some lessons in maintaining appearances. They unabashedly see it as a war against those who make up a large percent of the American citizen voters....the poor and working middle class. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Becker Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 Just another day in the US where the man-child keeps spewing out lies and distortions and his base supporters nod in Pavlovian unison. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 11 minutes ago, wwest5829 said: They unabashedly see it as a war against those who make up a large percent of the American citizen voters....the poor and working middle class. Easy to imagine Trump contemplating abrogating the 19th and 24th Amendments, by Executive Order, because people are telling him he can. That and dividing Wyoming up into eight individual states might help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bendejo Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 That those in power deliberately make it difficult to vote (the gerrymandering didn't just fall from the sky) shows that they are desperate. That same political camp is against a thorough count/recount. Sounds like they're afraid of something. If back in 2000 if President Clinton said a word about the Florida recount imagine the excrement storm that would have ensued! The present Blowhard-in-Chief has no such qualms, and it succeeds, as usual, at making him look guilty. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 4 hours ago, webfact said: U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Florida election officials to end a recount and declare his fellow Republicans the winners of disputed races in last week's midterm elections as a judge urged both parties to be careful with claims of fraud. You sound nervous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bluespunk Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Boon Mee said: And they continue to find more ballets every day? Clearly Republicans aren’t good at hiding stuff... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Tug Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 I find it ironic that the guy that got help from a hostile foreign power to rigg our election would be making this accusation but not surprised lol Donald you are getting spanked!! 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnapat Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 50 minutes ago, wwest5829 said: That is what happens when the Republican Party has purposely gerrymandered, closed or moved polling places to make it more difficult to votes and purged registered voters wholesale. They make no apology for fighting against the majority of voters who are viewed as opposed to their interests. I understand, the majority of Americans are opposed. I hope all members remember these voting fiascos when commenting on the forthcoming Thai election. Seems something's wrong when a candidate ( Scott) is the person in charge of the election procedure. Also the apparent and proven voter suppression especially in Georgia is nothing short of shocking in a civilised country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebike Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 2 minutes ago, Jonnapat said: I hope all members remember these voting fiascos when commenting on the forthcoming Thai election. Seems something's wrong when a candidate ( Scott) is the person in charge of the election procedure. Also the apparent and proven voter suppression especially in Georgia is nothing short of shocking in a civilised country. I am a little confused. Are you comparing democracy in the country which has been practising and proliferating it for 240 yrs to one which has yet to embrace it? Why? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post howbri Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 Republicans ended voting on Nov 6. Democrats vote until they win. Democrats = corruption! 1 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post onera1961 Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 3 hours ago, canuckamuck said: It's funny how the all the gains in the late ballot counts seem to favor the dems. Hmmm It is called voter suppression. Vary popular in former slave states. It is in their genes. Before, they could do it openly by intimidation, lynching, poll taxes, etc. Now they have to be more innovative. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ballpoint Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Boon Mee said: And they continue to find more ballets every day? Yes, just last week they found Swan Lake down the back of the sofa. 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pegman Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, mikebike said: I am a little confused. Are you comparing democracy in the country which has been practising and proliferating it for 240 yrs to one which has yet to embrace it? Why? A country that spends >$5b on campaigns, in a non-presidential election year, cannot seriously be considered a true democracy. Trump demanded, on Veteran's Day, that the counting be stopped in Florida before over-seas active duty military member's ballots arrive. It only took him two days to outdo himself after the raindrop snub of WW1 war dead. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jingthing Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, DoctorG said: Broward County will keep "finding" new voter slips until the Dems miraculously win. You just made that up with no evidence. That is sick and anti-democracy. "trump" and the movement of his fans is a deeply ANTI DEMOCRACY political movement. They don't want to count all the votes if there is any chance it will go against their perverted "nationalist" movement.. They DO want to count all the votes if there is any chance it will HELP their perverted "nationalist" movement. Now that "trump" has been deeply wounded in the house, expect these dark toxic forces of American fascism to get even worse. Our very democracy is on the line in the face of this. To add, I personally think after all the votes are counted, if the "trump" red hats allow that, both Florida republicans (governor and senator) will emerge as victors. But possibly not. As far as Georgia, there is clear racist and corrupt voter suppression of minorities that happened there. Banana republican levels. The republican will win unless the courts rule in favor of a re-election based on that corruption and then he still might win. Edited November 13, 2018 by Jingthing 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mikebike Posted November 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2018 11 minutes ago, pegman said: A country that spends >$5b on campaigns, in a non-presidential election year, cannot seriously be considered a true democracy. Trump demanded, on Veteran's Day, that the counting be stopped in Florida before over-seas active duty military member's ballots arrive. It only took him two days to outdo himself after the raindrop snub of WW1 war dead. Yep... kinda my point. USA should know better. Thailand, less so. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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