ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Orange County Canvassing Board met on Thursday to review and verify the results of Tuesday's midterm election.
The meeting came as some statewide races, including the contest for U.S. Senate, appear to be heading toward a recount.
"We have to go through and verify any ballots that were unscannable that (need to) get added on," Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said. "That could change results."
Canvassing boards in all 67 Florida counties are required to verify voting results after every election, which includes reviewing provisional ballots.
In Orange County, there were 345 provisional ballots issued for the midterm election.
"We'll have to go by name, by voter and make a decision to accept or reject," Cowles said.
The process is something that was expected to last all day, according to Cowles.
While the board was going through each precinct's results, they were being watched by roughly a dozen observers, some of whom were representing statewide campaigns.
In the race for U.S. Senate, the lead from outgoing Gov. Rick Scott over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson narrowed to less than 22,000 votes, which is a margin of .26 percent.
In Florida, a machine count is issued if final results show a margin less than .5 percent.
All counties in Florida are required to submit their unofficial election results to the state by Saturday at noon. The Secretary of State will then order which races require a recount.
If a recount is ordered, it could happen as early as Monday.