ON THE BRINK IN FLORIDA – AT 12:50 P.M. ET:  The Senate race in Florida will, barring more Democratic lawyers riding in on horseback, conclude today, with a victory for Republican Governor Rick Scott.  If all goes as assumed, that means that the GOP will add two senators to the US Senate, making the confirmation of judges more secure.  From NPR: 

After two recounts and a deluge of lawsuits and loaded political rhetoric, the 12-day election marathon in Florida seems to be nearing its close.

Official results were due to Secretary of State Ken Detzner's office from all of Florida's 67 counties at noon on Sunday. About an hour before that deadline, Broward County, which has been one of two counties at the epicenter of the state's recount drama, announced that it had completed its recount and submitted the results.

The Democratic nominee for governor, Andrew Gillum, conceded Saturday night, and all eyes are on Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. He trails the Republican nominee, current Gov. Rick Scott, by more than 12,000 votes, and the results of last week's machine recount slightly widened the margin in that race.

Because the margin between Nelson and Scott was less than a quarter of a percentage point after that first recount, state law mandated a hand count of ballots that a machine could not make a clear reading on, either because the race was left blank or because there were other markings that made the ballot unclear.

The results turned in by county election officials on Sunday will reflect those recounted totals, as well as ballots received from military and overseas voters. As long as ballots from abroad were postmarked before Nov. 6, they will be counted if they were received by county officials by Friday.

A federal judge has denied a number of lawsuits filed by Nelson in an effort to put a dent in the deficit. They included a request to count vote-by-mail domestic ballots that were received after Election Day and a request to nullify a state law that requires voters to use the same marking method for different races across their ballots.

The Scott campaign has been calling daily on Nelson to concede. In a show of confidence, Scott attended an orientation in Washington last week for incoming senators.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Scott campaign said Nelson has a choice: "Be remembered as the statesman who graciously conceded after 42-years of public service ... or be remembered as the sore loser who refused to face the people he served."

COMMENT:  One hopes that Florida, one of the four most populous states in the Union, will modernize its voting procedures by 2020, an election in which the state will play a critical role.  I am not hopeful.

November 18,  2018