Judge tells lawyers in Florida recount battle to 'ramp down the rhetoric'; Georgia delay ordered
Judges in Florida and Georgia are grappling with a growing number of lawsuits over election results.
In Florida, the chief circuit judge in Broward County ruled against a request for the impoundment of voting machines by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who had a slim lead in a U.S. Senate race against the Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and the Miami Herald have coverage.
Judge Jack Tuter said there was no evidence supporting the need to seize the machines, but he did recommend that three additional deputies be added to the room where votes are tabulated. Tuter also provided some advice amid claims of ballot fraud, the articles reported.
“I am urging, because of the highly public nature of this case, to ramp down the rhetoric,” Tuter said. “Everything the lawyers are saying out in front of the elections office is beamed all over the country. We need to be careful what we say. These words mean things these days, as everybody in the room knows.”
President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that the election should be called in favor of Scott and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis. “An honest vote count is no longer possible—ballots massively infected,” Trump wrote.
According to the Post, there is no evidence to support Trump’s tweet. AP said there have been “glitches with tabulation machines,” but officials insisted nothing illegal is happening. The Miami Herald reported that it has heard from voters in both parties who said they received absentee ballots late or not at all, and when they mailed in ballots, their votes were not recorded.
Florida is in the midst of statewide recounts for governor, the U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner because of a state law mandating recounts in tight races. At least nine lawsuits have been filed over the recounts, according to the Post.
One suit by Nelson seeks the counting of late-delivered absentee ballots that may have been delayed because of the mail pipe bombs investigation. Another suit by the League of Women Voters and Common Cause Florida seeks to bar Scott from using his office to influence vote tabulations in the Senate race.
In Georgia, meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg delayed certification of election results and ordered election officials to review the eligibility of voters who cast provisional ballots because of issues with their voter registrations, report the New York Times and the Associated Press. Totenberg also ordered the secretary of state’s office to create a hotline for voters to check whether their provisional ballots were counted.
Brian Kemp, a Republican who was secretary of state until his resignation last week, leads Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is trying to force a runoff election. Kemp maintains he won the election.
Totenberg ruled in a lawsuit filed by Common Cause Georgia that accused Kemp of taking actions while secretary of state that made it more likely that eligible voters would be removed from rolls. Kemp declared victory in his gubernatorial race against Abrams last Wednesday and resigned as secretary of state the next day.
