GOP Rep. Allen West Refuses To Concede, Requests Recount In Florida

Florida Republican Representative Allen West is refusing to concede his election race but is instead ordering a hand recount of the votes — despite the fact that he is outside the margin of a recount.

The results showed West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy by 2,500 votes as of Wednesday morning with 100 percent of precincts reporting, according to CBS News.

Despite this, West’s campaign manager, Tim Edson, issued a statement on Wednesday morning that calls for a “full hand recount of the ballots” in St. Lucie County, Florida. Edson’s statement read:

“Late last night Congressman West maintained a district-wide lead of nearly 2,000 votes until the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections ‘recounted’ thousands of early ballots. Following that ‘recount’ Congressman West trailed by 2,400 votes.”

Edson added:

“In addition… there were numerous other irregularities reported at polls across St. Lucie County including the doors to polling places being locked when the polls closed, in direct violation of Florida law, thereby preventing the public from witnessing the procedures used to tabulate results.”

The Tampa Bay Times notes, however, that the margin of 2,500 votes between Allen West and Patrick Murphy is not within the requirements to ask for a recount. State elections spokesman Chris Cate stated:

“If the percentage does not fit within the statutory criteria for recounts, there exists no statutory mechanism for a candidate, group or anyone else to have a recount done by the state or any supervisor of elections.”

Murphy declared victory in the state just after 1 am local time on Wednesday, but the AP has yet to call the race as of 6 pm. There is no further information on whether a recount will be granted for Allen West.