A recount could begin Friday in FL-20 Democratic primary. The margin is 3 votes.

Broward and Palm Beach counties could begin a recount as soon as Friday in the neck-and-neck Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Broward County Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness and healthcare executive Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick are virtually tied according to unofficial vote totals as of 7 p.m. Thursday. According to the Florida Division of Elections, Cherfilus-McCormick leads Holness by three votes, or by .01%, in the race for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, which spans the two counties.

The unofficial totals are well within the .5% threshold of victory to trigger a machine recount and the .25% threshold of victory to trigger a hand recount of overvotes and undervotes. Overvotes are votes that appear to mark off more than one candidate while undervotes are votes that do not appear to check off any candidate.

Before a recount can occur, Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee must formally ask Broward and Palm Beach counties to conduct one. That will happen after both counties send their unofficial results to the state after 5 p.m. Thursday, which is the deadline for any voters to resolve a signature issue on their vote-by-mail ballot.

“We are planning and ready to conduct our manual recount,” said Alison Nova, the public information officer for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link. “Even with the threshold of what’s outstanding, we’re confident we’ll have a manual recount.”

Nova said there are “just over 100” ballots in Palm Beach County that have some kind of signature issue. The Palm Beach supervisor’s office also said there were “less than 100” outstanding overseas and military ballots, which will be accepted and counted until November 12th as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

Consuelo Kelley, a spokesperson for Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott, was not able to immediately give any estimate of outstanding overseas and military ballots or an estimate of ballots with a signature issue.

“We are prepared for the same,” Kelley said when asked about a recount. “As soon as the state orders it, that’s when we can begin the process, Friday or Saturday or whatever. We’re ready to do it if we are ordered to do it.”

Lee’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Holness built a large lead among voters in Broward County, which accounts for about 75% of the district’s voters. But Cherfilus-McCormick won Palm Beach County and performed better in Broward County than Holness did in Palm Beach, which led to the race’s virtual tie.

The race won’t be finished once the recount is done, as any outstanding overseas and military ballots will be counted.

“Overseas and military ballots we don’t know,” Holness said. “There’s a lot that are outstanding but a lot of them aren’t returned.”

Cherfilus-McCormick campaign spokesperson Rochelle Ritchie said the candidate is not conducting interviews “as we wait for the confirmation of the election results following the recount.”

None of the other nine candidates in the field are close to Holness and Cherfilus-McCormick’s vote totals, with state Sen. Perry Thurston and Broward Commissioner Barbara Sharief reaching 17.7% and 14.8% of the total vote, respectively.

Holness has 23.75% of the vote to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 23.76% of the vote as of 7 p.m. Thursday.

Recounts are common in Florida

Each of the last two election cycles led to recounts in Florida, with Republican Sen. Rick Scott, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried eking out victories in 2018 despite problems with the performance by elections supervisors in Palm Beach and Broward counties, who were both replaced ahead of the 2020 election.

And in 2020, Miami Democratic state Sen. José Javier Rodríguez lost the race for Senate District 37 after a recount by a mere 34 votes to Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia. A no-party candidate in that race, Alexis Rodriguez was paid as a spoiler candidate by former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles and pleaded guilty in August to two felony campaign finance charges. A criminal case against Artiles is still pending.

In all of those races, the leading vote-getter once unofficial results were sent to the state emerged as the ultimate victor.

Whoever emerges victorious between Holness and Cherfilus-McCormick is almost assured of winning a seat in Congress after the general election Jan. 11. The winner will face Republican Jason Mariner and a group of no-party and minor candidates in Florida’s most Democratic-leaning U.S. House seat.

The loser could wage a quick comeback, if they choose. The 2022 Democratic primary for the seat is set for August.

This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 6:06 PM.