Midterm Elections

Scott Wins Rulings In Florida Senate Race, With Deadlines Looming

Rick Scott has won two lawsuits requesting that Florida election officials reveal information about votes cast in the Senate race.

Scott Wins Rulings In Florida Senate Race, With Deadlines Looming
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Judges have ordered election officials to turn over vote counts to Florida governor Rick Scott's senate campaign. 

Scott had filed lawsuits late Thursday night alleging that election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties were violating Florida law by not turning over information on the vote counts. The lawsuits do not explicitly allege the officials committed fraud, despite Scott's statements to that effect. 

"Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward counties."

Scott's campaign filed the lawsuits as his lead over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson narrowed in the continuing vote tally to about 15,000 votes, well within the 0.5 margin for a machine recount. The governor has repeatedly accused his political opponents, without evidence, of trying to steal the election

The orders came as election officials in the state were already working toward a deadline of noon local time on Saturday to turn over unofficial results to the Florida secretary of state.  

For its part, Nelson's campaign filed its own lawsuit on Friday, asking for a later deadline for the unofficial vote count. 

Additional reporting by Newsy affiliate CNN

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified Sen. Bill Nelson. The story has been updated.