LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – The Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office is conducting a machine recount in the Republican race for Congressional District 11 after unofficial results showed Joe Strada leading Carey Baker by fewer than 400 votes.
Districtwide unofficial results showed Strada ahead of Baker 27,389 to 26,996, a difference of 393 votes. That is a margin of about 0.48%, which is close enough under Florida law to trigger a recount.
Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays said state law requires a machine recount when the margin of victory is one-half of 1% or less, unless the trailing candidate declines it in writing.
“The Florida Statutes, Chapter 102.141, tell us that if the margin of victory in any particular contest is one-half of 1% or less, then we must do a machine recount,” Hays said. “Unless the person with the fewest number of votes sends a letter to the Secretary of State saying, ‘Don’t bother to do the recount. I accept the results.’”
No such letter was sent, so the Florida Secretary of State ordered election offices across the district to recount the race.
In Lake County, workers are processing nearly 28,000 Republican ballots through tabulation machines. Hays said the first step is to separate the Republican ballots, then run those ballots through again to retabulate the District 11 votes.
The machine recount may not be the final step. If the new districtwide margin is 0.25% or less, election workers must conduct a hand recount of overvotes and undervotes.
Hays said an overvote happens when a voter marks more candidates than allowed in a race, while an undervote happens when no candidate is marked.
“These machines are so sensitive that they will pick up just a little pin drop of ink on that oval,” Hays said, adding that a canvassing board can review ballots to determine voter intent.
The winner of the Republican race will advance to the November general election. The seat is currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, who first entered Congress in 2011 and has represented District 11 since 2017. Webster is retiring when his current term ends.
Recount results must be submitted to the state by 3 p.m. Sunday.