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Bad ballot Design In Broward County Cost Bill Nelson 9,658 Votes In Ultra-Tight Loss To Rick Scott

Wilfredo Lee
/
Associated Press
Republican observer looks at a ballot during a hand recount at the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office in Lauderhill on Nov. 16, 2018. Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott narrowly defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in the Senate race.

A months-long examination of votes from the 2018 midterm election in Florida published Thursday found the way ballots were designed in Broward County could have cost Bill Nelson 9,658 votes in the U.S. Senate race against Rick Scott.

Democrat Nelson, who was seeking re-election, lost the ultra-close race to Republican Scott by 10,033 votes out of 4.19 million cast — a difference of 0.2%, reports the Sun Sentinel.

If the bad ballot design hadn’t cost Nelson those thousands of votes in Broward, Scott still would have been the winner by a razor thin margin — and the contentious contest would have certainly been plagued with even more court battles, counting controversies and conspiracy theories.

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