Final unofficial numbers tallied in Florida’s 7th District race

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. —

Two days after Election Day, with the race for U.S. House District 7 in Central Florida too close to call, we got the final unofficial numbers Thursday night with the last ballots tallied in Seminole and Volusia counties.

Ryan Elijah, a Republican and former broadcaster, led Democrat Bale Dalton, a former NASA chief of staff, by slightly more than half a percent — just outside the margin required to trigger a recount.

Both Seminole and Volusia counties’ supervisors of elections expected to have all ballots counted by the end of Thursday night, which did come to pass.

In Seminole County, election officials began Thursday with 102 provisional ballots from voters who lacked sufficient identification at the polls and nearly 200 mail ballots that required curing due to missing valid envelope signatures. Voters had until 5 p.m. to submit sworn affidavits to ensure their ballots would be counted. Overseas ballots were also being reviewed as representatives from the campaigns and staffers from U.S. House leadership observed the process.

“At the end of the process, we will upload the unofficial results to the state, and we will know a little bit better if we will head into a recount for this race,” Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock said.

In Volusia County, election officials were conducting similar work to finalize the race. The Volusia County canvassing board reviewed 350 provisional ballots, 250 ballots requiring curing, and overseas ballots submitted before the deadline. This process resulted in roughly 100 new votes for District 7, with campaign workers and attorneys closely monitoring updates from the supervisor of elections.

“All of that comes into play whether there is a recount on the line or not, but we do take it very seriously,” Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis said. “It does give us a little bit of an audience that will have people watching, which is what I always like to see, is people taking part in the process.”

The final unofficial numbers out of Volusia County are as follows:

Elijah (R): 74,211 (+68) Dalton (D): 53,859 (+80)Dennison (L): 1,531

The final unofficial numbers from Seminole County are as follows:

Elijah (R): 87,089 (+43)Dalton (D): 105,810 (+101)Dennison (L): 1,954 (+2)

According to the Associated Press, the final unofficial numbers from both counties are as follows:

Elijah (R): 161,300 (49.7%)Dalton (D): 159,669 (49.2%)Dennison (L): 3,485 (1.1%)

The margin required to trigger a recount is 0.5%, but the decision to proceed with a recount ultimately rests with the Florida secretary of state and will not occur Thursday.

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