WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:03.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: As we reported earlier, most Florida counties have finished the machine 00:03.733 --> 00:07.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% vote recount in three statewide elections today. 00:07.166 --> 00:12.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In the Senate race, incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson trails Republican challenger Rick Scott 00:12.900 --> 00:15.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% by nearly 13,000 votes. 00:15.066 --> 00:20.066 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% That is still within the 0.25 percent that triggers a hand recount. 00:22.033 --> 00:24.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The "NewsHour"'s digital politics editor, Dan Bush, has been in South Florida watching 00:24.833 --> 00:26.233 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% all this up close. 00:26.233 --> 00:27.733 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% And he joins me now. 00:27.733 --> 00:29.700 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Hello to you, Dan. 00:29.700 --> 00:33.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, first of all, as we said earlier, it was just Palm Beach County that seemed to have 00:33.766 --> 00:35.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% missed the deadline. 00:35.366 --> 00:37.300 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% But now we're hearing it may have been Broward County as well. 00:37.300 --> 00:38.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What do we know about that? 00:38.366 --> 00:40.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% DANIEL BUSH: That's right, Judy. 00:40.500 --> 00:45.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We're just hearing reports now that Broward County missed the reporting deadline to finish 00:45.100 --> 00:50.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the machine recount, which was 3:00 p.m. today, by about two minutes, which still means that 00:51.633 --> 00:55.400 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% 65 of Florida's 67 counties finished the machine recount on time. 00:55.400 --> 00:57.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So let's talk about the Senate race. 00:57.900 --> 01:02.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As we just said, it looks like the separation between Bill Nelson and Rick Scott is within 01:04.266 --> 01:07.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that 0.25 percent margin, which triggers a hand recount. 01:07.833 --> 01:09.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% So what happens now? 01:09.033 --> 01:11.333 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% DANIEL BUSH: That's right, Judy. 01:11.333 --> 01:16.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So the recount resulted in a -- in an outcome that was under that 0.25 margin that you noted, 01:18.566 --> 01:21.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a law put in place in the state after the 2000 election. 01:21.600 --> 01:23.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% That triggers the hand recount. 01:23.633 --> 01:26.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% That's starting tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. sharp. 01:26.366 --> 01:31.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And an election official told me in Broward County a little while ago that it's supposed 01:31.166 --> 01:36.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% to start right on time, more or less, and the deadline for that is November 18, so just 01:36.066 --> 01:41.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% a couple of days for them to go through a universe of tens of thousands of votes, 42,000 01:43.000 --> 01:46.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% everywhere in Florida, and then an additional set from Broward County of undervotes and 01:46.533 --> 01:48.533 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% overvotes. 01:48.533 --> 01:52.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Those are votes where -- ballots where voters either voted for multiple candidates in a 01:52.433 --> 01:54.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% single race or left it blank. 01:54.466 --> 01:57.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Those are the votes that officials are going to be going through hand by hand in the next 01:57.666 --> 02:00.366 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% couple days. 02:00.366 --> 02:03.633 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So, now, separately from this, Dan, there has been a lawsuit filed over provisional 02:04.366 --> 02:05.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% and mail-in ballots. 02:05.400 --> 02:07.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Tell us where that stands. 02:07.433 --> 02:11.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DANIEL BUSH: So, Democratic incumbent Senator Bill Nelson and the Florida Democratic Party 02:14.500 --> 02:17.933 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% filed a lawsuit in federal government challenging a state law that requires signatures on provisional 02:20.300 --> 02:24.366 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% ballots and mail-in ballots to match the signatures in state voter registration records, saying 02:26.300 --> 02:30.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% that it was unconstitutional, violated equal protection rights, and makes it harder for 02:30.266 --> 02:32.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% voters to vote. 02:32.333 --> 02:36.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And a judge just this morning issued a narrow ruling, allowing the state to go back and 02:36.833 --> 02:41.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% review about 4,000 of these ballots to see whether or not they should be recounted. 02:43.800 --> 02:46.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But Democrats had hoped for a broader ruling, potentially something that would strike down 02:46.900 --> 02:51.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the existing state law or even require the state to automatically look at, you know, 02:52.633 --> 02:54.633 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% all of these votes. 02:54.633 --> 02:55.900 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% That didn't happen. 02:55.900 --> 02:58.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So we will have to see where it goes from here. 02:58.066 --> 03:02.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And as soon as the ruling came out, Republican Governor Rick Scott, running for the Senate 03:02.600 --> 03:05.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% seat in Florida, appealed the ruling. 03:05.700 --> 03:07.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% That's now going to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. 03:07.866 --> 03:09.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% We will see where it goes from there. 03:09.866 --> 03:13.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So, now I want you to focus for just a moment on the governor's race, 03:13.200 --> 03:17.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Republican Ron DeSantis, Democrat Andrew Gillum. 03:17.500 --> 03:18.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Recount there as well. 03:18.866 --> 03:20.200 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Where does that one stand? 03:20.200 --> 03:22.200 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% DANIEL BUSH: Yes. 03:22.200 --> 03:26.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, on the governor's side, DeSantis is still leading Gillum by about 34,000 votes, which 03:27.700 --> 03:29.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% is a 0.41 margin. 03:29.866 --> 03:34.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So he didn't -- Gillum wasn't able to close the gap enough to trigger a hand recount. 03:36.766 --> 03:40.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We saw DeSantis just a little while ago saying that the results were clear. 03:40.933 --> 03:45.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We're still waiting to hear from Gillum, but it appears that that race is where it is, 03:45.333 --> 03:49.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% and that DeSantis will be certified as the winner, perhaps as early as next week. 03:49.066 --> 03:52.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, Dan, we know you have been spending time there around the Broward 03:52.366 --> 03:55.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% County election supervisor's office. 03:55.233 --> 03:56.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Tell us what's going on there. 03:56.500 --> 03:58.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% There have been protests outside. 03:58.666 --> 04:00.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% What is the scene there? 04:00.666 --> 04:04.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DANIEL BUSH: So, inside, you have a couple of dozen election workers who in the last 04:04.866 --> 04:09.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% several days have been working around the clock to do this machine recount, to feed 04:09.233 --> 04:12.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the ballots into the machines and let that process play out. 04:12.900 --> 04:17.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Meanwhile, outside, there have been Republican protests, Democratic protests around this 04:18.800 --> 04:20.866 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% process. 04:20.866 --> 04:23.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% A lot of Republicans, Judy, that I spoke to, said -- a lot of voters -- said they don't 04:23.433 --> 04:24.900 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% trust these results. 04:24.900 --> 04:27.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% They feel that there was suspicious activity. 04:27.033 --> 04:32.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They said that their view of the election is shaped by President Donald Trump, who has 04:34.066 --> 04:37.400 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% focused on Florida, and disparaged the recount process, called for it to be over before all 04:38.933 --> 04:40.900 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% of the votes were received. 04:40.900 --> 04:44.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% On the other side, you have Democrats saying that they don't believe these allegations 04:44.500 --> 04:49.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% of fraud, that they want all of the votes to be counted, and that the rules on the books 04:49.133 --> 04:52.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% as they stand now make it harder for people to vote. 04:52.433 --> 04:57.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So you have two wildly different views of this election and whether or not the results 04:58.166 --> 05:00.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% should be trusted. 05:00.666 --> 05:03.700 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, political overlay always when these recounts happen, and -- but a spotlight 05:05.700 --> 05:08.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% right there as they count these votes. 05:08.233 --> 05:11.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Dan Bush, reporting for us from Florida, thank you. 05:12.333 --> 05:13.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% DANIEL BUSH: Thank you.