Florida Governor and Senate candidate Rick Scott says he is asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate elections offices in Palm Beach and Broward counties, questioning whether they were trying to inflate the Democratic vote. (Nov. 9) AP


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It could take the whole month of November to definitively decide who Florida's next governor and senator will be.

Evoking memories of the 2000 election when the nation anxiously watched as a Florida recount determined who would be president, a statewide machine recount began Saturday of the more than 8 million votes cast in last week's midterm election. 

The recount was triggered by the razor-thin margins in both the Senate race, where Gov. Rick Scott holds a 12,562 vote, or 0.15 percent, lead over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, and the governor's race, where Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis, led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by fewer than 34,000 votes or a margin of .41 percent. 

As in the 2000 recount between Al Gore and George W. Bush, the legal battles are heating up. Scott has filed motions in the Democratic strongholds of Broward and Palm Beach counties. He has denounced "rampant fraud" and accused Nelson of "trying to steal an election."

Here are the terms, dates and deadlines you need to know as the recount moves forward:

Nov. 8: Andrew Gillum, Ron DeSantis Florida governor's race appears headed to a recount

Nov. 8: GOP's Rick Scott files lawsuit in Florida elections, accuses officials of 'rampant fraud'

Key terms

Election day count: The number of ballots cast on Election Day.

Early in-person voting count: The number of ballots cast during the early voting period before Election Day.

Absentee ballot count: The number of absentee ballots mailed in and received by a local election office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Overseas military ballot count: The number of absentee ballots from military members and dependents stationed overseas mailed to local election offices. These can be accepted until Nov. 16 as long as they were postmarked no later than Nov. 6 and are added to the vote totals.

Recount: Florida law provides for an automatic recount when a race is particularly close. When the margin between the candidates is equal to or less than 0.5 percent, the law provides for an automatic machine recount of the ballots, where county election officials run all the ballots through voting machines again. If the margin in races fall below 0.25 percent, the law provides for an automatic manual count of ballots where undervotes or overvotes are identified.

Nov. 8: Thousands of provisional ballots could flip Florida races now too close to call

Nov. 8: Democrats send 'army of lawyers' to Florida; Republicans accuse them of trying to steal Senate race

Undervote: Not every voter marks a selection in every race on their ballot. So when one race is skipped or no mark is recorded when the ballot goes through the machine, that's an undervote.

But sometimes undervotes are caused by machine error. That is the concern among Democrats in Florida's Senate race, where they say fewer votes were cast than in other races in the same election. Others have suggested voters left them blank because they didn't like either candidate. 

in a recount, if a review of the ballot identifies a mark the voter made as a selection and the voter's intent can be determined, then it's counted.

Overvote: Some races receive more votes than the actual number of ballots cast in an election, and that creates an overvote. This often happens when voters, either intentionally or accidentally, mark multiple selections in the same race on their ballot. If a voter marks two or more selections in one race, that "true" overvote won't be counted for either selection.

Provisional ballots: A ballot is marked provisional by a county election official if there are questions about a voter's eligibility. If a voter doesn't have a photo ID when they arrive at a polling place, if there is confusion over where a voter is supposed to cast a ballot, or if an absentee ballot is mailed without a signature, the ballot can be identified as provisional and reviewed by local election officials before that vote is added to the total count.

Republicans are concerned that some provisional ballots are being counted that don't qualify.

Canvassing board: Each of Florida's 67 counties has a canvassing board made up of the supervisor of elections, a county court judge and county commission chair. Each board examines provisional ballots and outstanding absentee ballots to determine whether they should be counted.

Unofficial results: Each county election office submits counts to the Florida secretary of state showing the number of ballots cast in each race. These results are considered unofficial and can be updated multiple times after each step in the machine and by-hand recounts.

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Key dates

Saturday, Nov. 10, noon ET (all times Eastern): Canvassing boards' unofficial returns are due in Tallahassee. The secretary of state then determines which races meet the less than 0.5 percent victory margin threshold requiring a machine recount.

Saturday, Nov. 10, 3 p.m.: State-wide machine recount begins.

Nov. 7: This is why Andrew Gillum lost the Florida governor race to Ron DeSantis

Nov. 7: Election results: Bill Nelson pushes ahead with recount in Florida Senate race

Thursday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m.: Unofficial returns are due in Tallahassee and the secretary of state determines which races meet the less than a 0.25 percent victory margin threshold to order a hand recount.

Friday, Nov. 16: Count begins for military and overseas ballots post-marked Nov. 6 or earlier.

Sunday, Nov. 18, noon: County canvassing boards hand count results are due in Tallahassee.

Tuesday, November 20, 9 a.m.: The Elections Canvassing Commission, consisting of the governor and two cabinet members, meets to certify the Nov. 6 election official returns.

Friday, Nov. 30: Deadline for any candidate, voter or taxpayer to contest election results in circuit court.

Contributing: John McCarthy, Florida Today; James Call, Tallahassee Democrat. Includes reporting from the Tallahassee Democrat and the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow the Tallahassee Democrat and Naples Daily News on Twitter: @TDOnline and @ndn

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