Florida U.S. Senate race between Nelson and Scott headed toward recount

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - The Bill Nelson for U.S. Senate campaign announced on Wednesday that the Florida U.S. Senate race is headed toward a recount, based on today's razor-thin margin.

Unofficial results showed Nelson trailing Rick Scott by a little more than just 34,500 votes out of a total of 8.1 million ballots cast. That is less than a 0.5% point difference. State law requires a recount when candidates are within a one-half point. Scott claimed victory on late Tuesday night, though.

"We are proceeding to a recount," Nelson said Wednesday morning. The tally in the race continued closing into the early hours of Wednesday, triggering a recount at 3:15 a.m. Scott's lead currently is just 0.4%, or 34,537 votes.

Next, 67 county supervisors of elections will recheck the total tally and the Nelson campaign will contact voters whose ballots were not counted due to a lack of ID or a matching address. The deadline is noon on Saturday, but the recount may be allowed more time under certain circumstances.

The Nelson campaign says that they intend to have observers in all 67 counties watching for any irregularities, mistakes or unusual partisan activities. "We expect the supervisors, regardless of their party affiliation, will discharge their constitutional duties," said Marc Elias, an election lawyer representing the Nelson campaign.

Rick Scott's campaign team released a statement following Nelson's. Chris Hartline, the spokesman for Scott for Florida, said that "This race is over. It's a sad way for Bill Nelson to end his career. He is desperately trying to hold on to something that no longer exists."