Midterm elections trigger recounts and tensions

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Gillum encourages Florida citizens to vote.

Martha Sanchez, RubicOnline Editor

In the wake of the highly publicized midterm elections this month, several states races have been so close in votes that the results have triggered an automatic recount.

In Florida, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum conceded to Republican Ron DeSantis on Nov. 17, ending the race for governor nearly two weeks after election night. DeSantis responded to his victory on Twitter.

“This was a hard-fought campaign,” he posted. “Now it’s time to bring Florida together.”

The race for Senate in Florida ended in a recount as well. In the race between Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott, Nelson has yet to receive the votes he needs to win the recount. The latest results indicate that Nelson failed to generate votes from the recount in Florida’s two largest counties, pointing to a low chance of victory for Democrats in Florida. Scott responded to the recount tensions.

“He’s [Nelson’s] trying to commit fraud to win this election,” Scott said, “Bill Nelson’s a sore loser. He’s been in politics way too long.”

Other races, such as the race for governor of Georgia between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp were delayed as well due to absentee ballots that weren’t taken account for on election night. Abrams conceded last Friday, but is filing suit over absentee ballots that her team claims were mailed too slowly. In her concession speech Friday, Abrams vocalized feelings of anger and disappointment with leaders in her state.

“More than 200 years into Georgia’s democratic experiment, the state failed it’s voters,” she said, “eight years of systematic disenfranchisement, disinvestment and incompetence had its desired effect on the electoral process in Georgia.”