Florida: Rick Scott Takes Part In U.S. Senate Orientation Even Though No Winner Called For His Race

Florida Gov. Rick Scott

Even though no winner has been called for the still-this-close Senate race in Florida, Republican Gov. Rick Scott flew to Washington D.C. to take part in 'freshman orientation' events for the Senate.

Check out the photo below as Scott poses for photos next to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

NEW: Rick Scott is in Washington today meeting with @senatemajldr and other incoming GOP senators despite continued recount in #Florida #LiveDesk pic.twitter.com/VSer8n0vuA

— Dan Snyder (@DanSnyderFOX25) November 14, 2018

A lawyer for Scott told U.S. District Judge Mark Walker today that the governor plans to recuse himself from certifying the election results, just like he did in 2014, when he was ran for re-election.

Here's the latest on the recounts in Florida from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel:

Counties face a 3 p.m. Thursday deadline to report results from the machine recounts in the U.S. Senate, governor and agriculture commissioner races. The unofficial results from the . Senate and agriculture races were within 0.25 percent, the threshold to trigger a manual recount.

The results from the manual recounts are due by noon Sunday, and the state canvassing board is scheduled to certify the results of the election on Tuesday.

Florida Orders Recounts For 3 Races Including Governor & Senate

And the recounts in Florida have been ordered!

Via the Orlando Sun-Sentinel:

After receiving unofficial election results from all 67 counties, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Saturday officially ordered machine recounts in three statewide elections – U.S. Senate, Governor and Agriculture Commissioner.

Now, county election officials will feed ballots into machines to recount the results in those races. The second round of results is due to the state by 3 p.m. Thursday.

If the results show a margin of 0.25 percent or less, which appears to be the case in the most heated race between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott for Senate, a hand recount is ordered. Results from a hand recount would be due Sunday, Nov. 18 at noon.

The votes cast in the U.S. Senate race were within 0.15 percentage points, a margin of less than 13,000 votes out of more than 8 million cast.

Florida update:

Bill Nelson 4,085,545
Rick Scott 4,098,107

Andrew Gillum 4,042,195
Ron DeSantis 4,075,879

Nikki Fried 4,030,337
Matt Caldwell 4,025,011

Preliminary results are in.
All three races going to recount.

— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) November 10, 2018

LIVE: Gillum speaks after Florida recount announced https://t.co/uGV35ZD8Rv

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 10, 2018

The Trumpster is none too happy about the news:

Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018

There is zero evidence of vote fraud in Florida. There is zero evidence of vote fraud in Florida. There is zero evidence of vote fraud in Florida. There is zero evidence of vote fraud in Florida. There is zero evidence of vote fraud in Florida.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 10, 2018

I've noticed some confusion about how elections work. People vote on (and now often before) Election Day. And those votes are counted. All of them. Sometimes it takes a while. Then, and only then, you know who won.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) November 9, 2018

Michigan Judge Halts Recount After Two Days: "No Evidence Of Tampering"

Jill Stein's recount of the Michigan presidential vote has been ordered to stop by a federal judge because there's no "evidence of tampering or mistake."

From Detroit Free Press:

In his eight-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said “there is no basis” for him to ignore a state court ruling that said the recount should never had started. He was referring to the Michigan Court of Appeals 3-0 ruling, which said that Green Party Candidate Jill Stein, who requested the recount, never had a shot at winning with her fourth-place finish and 1% of the vote, and therefore was not an aggrieved candidate.

Goldsmith’s ruling also bolstered some arguments that were repeatedly made by the Michigan Republican Party: that there was never any evidence that hacking or fraud occurred at the polls, and that Michigan’s voting system is so secure that not even the “Gremlins, Martians or Russian hackers” could tamper with it. That argument appeared to carry some weight with the judge.

“To date, plaintiffs have not presented evidence of tampering or mistake. Instead, they present speculative claims going to the vulnerability of the voting machinery — but not actual injury,” Goldsmith wrote, adding the potential for fraud is not enough to continue to allow the recount to proceed.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

Fox News To Jill Stein: "There's Not A Chance In The World" A Recount Will Change The Election

Things got really heated today on Fox News Sunday as host Chris Wallace challenged Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein on her ongoing mission to see the results of the election recounted in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Said Wallace, “There’s not a chance in the world here, Dr. Stein, that the vote is going to change in those three states.”

I honestly don't understand why conservatives are so adverse to a recount.

The money has been raised by private citizens, it's not costing the American taxpayer anything, and it's legal. Plus, for weeks Donald Trump ranted that the "system was rigged." Just this week he asserted that there were "millions" of illegal votes in other states.

So  what's so bad about looking into these issues?

I don't believe a recount will change the outcome of the election, but I do agree with Dr. Stein that irregularities will always lead to questions unless we actually audit results in our elections.

What harm could there be?

And one more thing - Wallace asserts that Stein is doing exactly what Trump declared before the election in that he said he may or may not accept the results of the election.

The difference between the two is that Trump was saying he might not accept results based on nothing that had happened yet. Stein is acting now, in a perfectly legal manner, based on the research of computer experts who have seen irregularities that don't seem to make sense. Trump's statements before the election are not the same as Stein's after.

Jill Stein: "You Can't See Voter Fraud Unless You Actually Check The Votes"

Jill Stein, appearing on CNN this morning, said Americans will never know for sure if voter fraud is a true threat to our electoral system unless we actually CHECK the votes.

During the last weeks of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that voter fraud was real and rampant. Many of his followers bought into those statements.

But if we're ever really going to know how wide-spread (or not) the issue is, we have to see how reliable our systems truly are.

From The Hill:

“You cannot see voter fraud unless you actually check the votes,” she said on CNN Tuesday morning. “There’s absolutely no way to know. We should have checks and balances built into the process.

“There should be an automatic audit and we should not be using these voting machines that have been proven to be so incredibly unreliable, that are incapable of actually reading what the marking is on the piece of paper.”

“I’ve always said when I was asked throughout the campaign, ‘Would I stand up and call for a recount if there were doubts about the reliability of the vote?’ ” she said. “I’ve always said ‘yes.’ “I’ve never taken sides in this election between the two establishment candidates. We do not have skin in the game. We’re here to stand up for everyday voters who need a better way forward.

Dr. Jill Stein on recount: "You cannot see voter fraud" unless you check the votes, so we need "checks and balances" https://t.co/IOybHfrrV0

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 29, 2016

Jill Stein Officially Files For Election Recount In Pennsylvania

We're filing affidavits in Allegheny County, PA! Voters can kickstart #Recount2016 today: https://t.co/NAN4Ryf6Pw pic.twitter.com/XiZo8VbsDJ

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 28, 2016

Meme Of The Day

Donald Trump Claims He "Won" The Popular Vote

Donald Trump is so rattled by the idea of a recount of the vote in three battleground states that he began defending his own victory in the presidential election via Twitter.

Kellyanne Conway - this is where you take the Blackberry out of the Trumpster's tiny hands...

In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4--

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2016

Trump Goes On Twitter Rant Over Voting Recount

President-elect Donald Trump seems a bit unnerved by the announcement by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein that she will request audit/recounts of the voting in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Trump took to Twitter today in a long rant decrying the recount effort based on the recommendations of computer scientists who say there are some irregular patterns in those three states. The discrepancies seem to be based in counties which used only electronic voting.

Of course, you'll recall Trump had a completely different tone about challenging results and voter fraud just weeks before the election.

Yesterday, the Clinton campaign tacitly announced it would participate, primarily to ensure the effort was fair to all sides. The Clinton team has stated it does not expect the results of the election to change due to the recount.

I personally think this is good thing. There are Americans who are still in disbelief about the outcome of the presidential election, and a recount (paid through donations, not tax dollars) could help folks accept the result more easily.

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free --

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a -

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind --

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind --

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying ... he refused to say that he would respect the results of --

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy." She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald --

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

President-Elect Trump On Recount Effort: "This Is A Scam"

Statement From President-Elect Donald J. Trump on the Ridiculous Green Party Recount Request:

"The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, 'We must accept this result and then look to the future.'

"It is important to point out that with the help of millions of voters across the country, we won 306 electoral votes on Election Day - the most of any Republican since 1988 – and we carried nine of 13 battleground states, 30 of 50 states, and more than 2,600 counties nationwide - the most since President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn’t even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes.

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing."

(source)

Hillary Clinton Campaign Will Participate In Jill Stein Vote Audit

Marc Elias, general counsel for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, announced today in an essay posted on Medium that the campaign will participate in the upcoming audit/recount effort begun by Jill Stein earlier this week.

Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.

If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well.

We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states — Michigan — well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount. But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself.

Stein's team is looking for not only a recount, but a reconciliation of paper records from the election.

At this writing, Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote stands at more than 2.2 million.

Jill Stein has raised over $5.7 million to fund vote audits in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Team Trump has not issued a statement on the audit effort at this point.

Jill Stein Raises $4.8 Million For Election Recounts In 3 Battleground States

Weeks before Election Day, Donald Trump warned over and over that the system was "rigged." We might just find out it really was - in his favor.

With Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote currently exceeding 2.1 million, computer cyber scientists at the University of Michigan noting serious "irregularities" in voting patterns in three swing states, plus the now infamous hacking into Clinton campaign emails by Russian actors, many feel it's possible the election may well have been tampered with.

From The Guardian:

Dozens of professors specialising in cybersecurity, defense, and elections have in the past two days signed an open letter to congressional leaders stating that they are “deeply troubled” by previous reports of foreign interference, and requesting swift action by lawmakers.

“Our country needs a thorough, public congressional investigation into the role that foreign powers played in the months leading up to November,” the academics said in their letter, while noting they did not mean to “question the outcome” of the election itself.

Halderman, the University of Michigan computer security expert, noted that this Friday is the deadline for requesting a recount in Wisconsin, where Trump’s winning margin stands at 0.7%. In Pennsylvania, where his margin is 1.2%, the deadline falls on Monday. In Michigan, where the Trump lead is currently just 0.3%, the deadline is Wednesday 30 November.

In response to these issues, Independent presidential candidate Jill Stein has raised over $4.8 million, with a goal of $7 million, to pay for a recount/audit of the voting in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Stein has publicly stated the effort is not to aid Clinton but "to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the U.S. election system is."

While I personally don't think the election results will be overturned by this exercise, I think a huge segment of the American electorate will feel better having the (surprising) votes in these three states examined.