Broward County, Florida, failed to meet a deadline for submitting ballots despite earlier reports on Thursday in a recount effort that has devolved into a national controversy.
Broward County was originally thought by numerous media outlets to have made the deadline, since officials completed the recount with about 14 minutes to spare. But when it came to actually transferring the recount results to the election board, county officials didn’t make it.
NBC Miami reported a few hours later that the ballots were two minutes late and will not be counted.
Palm Beach County and Broward County have been at the center of the national uproar since finding additional ballots following the midterm elections November 5.
The uncounted ballots were enough to trigger a recount for some key races by narrowing the margin of votes. Republicans became suspicious over all the additional votes that seemed to always favor the Democrats.
Related: Florida Republican Leader Debunks ‘No Voter Fraud’ Narrative
The two counties were not expected to make the recount deadline, which was set for Thursday afternoon. Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher even said days earlier that her county was unlikely to be ready in time — and indeed they weren’t.
The Florida recount included all of the 67 counties in the state.
The election is likely to go to a hand recount if the margin between the candidates comes to less than 0.25 percentage points. Broward County was able to make notable progress in its efforts to recount votes by Wednesday.
The final ballots were tallied by machine later in the day, NBC Miami reported. Officials then used the remaining time to hand count mail-in ballots.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) (shown above right) was able to re-enter the race with the additional votes, even though he already conceded defeat. He’s been running against Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) to become the next governor of the state. GOP Gov. Rick Scott has also been locked in a close race against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)(above left) to become a senator.
Scott also filed a lawsuit in response to the controversy alongside the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). They’re alleging that officials in Broward County and Palm Beach County are hiding critical information about the number of votes cast and counted in the Democrat-heavy districts.
He also alleged rampant fraud by Democratic county officials.
President Donald Trump made similar fraud allegations last week while dubbing the recount efforts in the state and elsewhere “The Broward Effect.” He also said law enforcement is looking into the alleged corruption scandal in the state.
The president questioned, in these scenarios, they never seem to find extra Republican votes.
Related: Trump: Florida Ballot Scandal Is an ‘Embarrassment to our Country and to Democracy’
Scott and his lawyers have also been trying to stop the streams of additional votes coming in after the original deadline but haven’t had much luck in the courts.
Federal Judge Mark E. Walker ruled voters who had their mail-in or provisional ballots rejected due to signature issues will get two more days to fix their ballots, according to a decision obtained by The Hill.
Florida Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter said during an emergency hearing on Monday that there is no wrongdoing. He also urged all sides to tone down the political rhetoric.
There’s also been no official investigation by law enforcement or the state election board that has found such evidence at the moment.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that Broward County was unable to get its ballots in on time.
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