Joe Raedle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who’s in the midst of a tight race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, was granted immediate inspection of the most current information on the amount of ballots, both already cast and those still to be counted, by a judge in Florida Friday afternoon after filing suit against the election supervisor in Broward County.
On Friday afternoon, Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida said the information should be made available by 7 p.m.
Scott filed an emergency complaint to enforce Florida’s public records act late Thursday night against Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes.
A razor-thin margin in the votes cast in Florida has divided the state which is gearing up for recounts in both the gubernatorial and senate races. Nelson has not yet conceded to Scott, who currently leads by less than 0.2 percent with ballots across the state still uncounted.
State rules mandate a recount if the margin is less than 0.5 percent, which looks entirely possible.
Two Democratic-leaning counties, Broward County and Palm Beach County, haven’t completed counting mail-in ballots — and one of them hasn’t finished counting early ballots, either. Many more counties continue to count provisional ballots. A recount could come as early as Saturday.
Scott carried a larger lead Tuesday night, but continues to see it dissipate as more votes come in. Scott has responded by accusing county election supervisors Snipes and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher of corruption.
Scott is backed by support from the president, the GOP and Florida’s current Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.
A win for Republicans in Florida’s senate race would only add to the stinging loss of three key Senate seats on Tuesday night in Indiana, North Dakota and Missouri, which are all states where Democratic senators faced re-election in states Trump won in 2016. But in Florida, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is awaiting results against Republican challenger Gov. Rick Scott, Trump narrowly won the state by less than 1.5 percentage points.
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