As crucial elections in Arizona and Florida are still not settled, we’re seeing signs of all kinds of shenanigans going on in Florida. Palm Beach and Broward counties, both liberal strongholds, are Ground Zero for what appears to be an attempt to overturn the election results in favor of incumbent Senator Bill Nelson (D) over winner Governor Rick Scott (R), and Andrew Gillum (D) over winner Ron DeSantis (R).
The media is intent on labeling those suggesting that fraud is at play as conspiracy theorists, even as Broward County supervisor of elections Brenda Snipes has refused to allow the media access to the counting process, has refused to announce the total number of ballots they have, and has already been declared to have violated the state constitution by a state judge.
It’s worth mentioning that historically speaking, recounts rarely ever reverse election night results. However, there are a handful of examples where they have:
1. Lewis Wyman vs. John Durkin for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire (1974)
Republican congressman Lewis Wyman came out victorious on Election Day by a mere 355 votes. Durkin demanded a recount, which put Durkin ahead by 10 votes. A second recount had Wyman up by two votes. Durkin appealed to the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate. After a six-month investigation, they came up with no definitive winner, and a new election was called. Durkin ultimately triumphed over Wyman in a special election by 27,000 votes.
2. Dino Rossi vs. Christine Gregoire for governor of Washington (2004)
Republican state Senator Dino Rossi surprisingly came out victorious on election night 2004 by just 261 votes. Of course, a recount was held, which Rossi also won, this time by just 42 votes. The state Democratic Party demanded a recount, and this new hand recount delivered Gregoire a 10-vote victory, which was later increased due to missing ballots that had been “found” during the recount. Another recount following a GOP lawsuit alleging fraud increased Gregoire’s lead by four votes.
3. Randy Brock vs. Thomas Salmon for auditor of Vermont (2006)
Republican incumbent Brock was declared the winner by 137 votes, and the results certified by the secretary of state. Democrat Salmon asked for a recount, and he ended up winning the election by 102 votes.
4. Norm Coleman vs. Al Franken for U.S. Senate in Minnesota (2008)
In the same year that Barack Obama was elected president, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman managed to eke out a slim 725-vote victory over SNL alum Al Franken. Six months later, Al Franken was declared the winner by 312 votes. Despite rampant evidence of illegal votes by felons in excess of Franken’s margin of victory, and ballots mysteriously materializing in the trunk of a leftist operative’s car, Coleman conceded the election.
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Did you notice a pattern? In each case, the Democrat came out on top. In some cases, ballots were magically found during the recount process, or felons were determined to have illegally voted, and voila! The Democrat won. So, yes, Republicans have every reason to be skeptical of these recounts, especially given what we’ve seen so far in Broward County, Florida. And no, this is not crazy conspiracy theory stuff.
It’s no surprise that Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis have seen their leads get smaller and smaller. It’s not a coincidence that liberal strongholds are always the center of ballot-counting problems. Democrats are so desperate for power that if an election is close they will find a way to steal it. Democrat slogans like “count every vote” are just dog whistles telling leftwing operatives to “find” votes for them so they can come out victorious. We’ve seen this happen before, and for too long Republicans have allowed Democrats to get away with it.
Thankfully, we’re seeing Republicans stand up this time. Let’s just hope that Democrats don’t steal these elections with fraudulent votes. They will try.
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Matt Margolis is the author of The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and the bestselling The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. His new book, Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy, will be published in 2019. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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