Electoral Vote Count Florida, Obama Wins; Election Results 2012
Almost all ballots in Florida are counted and CNN projected on Saturday that President Barack Obama was the winner in that state. This is four days after he won Tuesday's national election.
Florida makes his total of electoral votes to 332 compared to the 206 electoral votes obtained by Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Florida was the last state where the outcome was in doubt since three counties were still counting ballots.
Obama had 50.01 percent of the vote in Florida compared to 49.13 percent for Romney with nearly all ballots counted, according to figures from the Florida Secretary of State's Office. The president's lead stood at nearly 74,000 votes. With the victory in Florida, Obama swept all of the battleground states with the exception of North Carolina, which he won narrowly in 2008.
Other news in Florida include Tea Party supporter U.S. Representative Allen West, the firebrand Republican lawmaker known for his verbal attacks on Obama and other Democrats. West lost his re-election bid, according to the state's latest vote tally on Saturday. A 51-year-old former Army officer, he has yet to concede defeat to his Democratic challenger, Patrick Murphy. West said there were voting irregularities and has called for a partial recount.
The complete but unofficial vote count showed that Murphy, a 29-year-old political newcomer, defeated West by 2,442 votes. Murphy had 50.36 percent of the vote compared to West's 49.62 percent, meaning he was outside the 0.5 percent margin that would trigger an automatic recount under Florida rules.
On Friday, a Palm Beach County judge rejected a request by West to impound voting machines and ballots. The highly contentious race was one of the most expensive House races in the country. The delay in finalizing Florida's result this year did not affect the national outcome but raised concerns that some of the problems in 2000 had not been resolved 12 years later.
