As the Senate race between Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R.) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) heads into a recount, Scott said the behavior of election officials in liberal counties and Nelson's attempt to bring in a lawyer associated with Hillary Clinton indicates "rampant fraud" may be happening in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
"No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C. will be allowed to steal this election from the voters in the state of Florida," Scott said.
"It has been over 48 hours since polls closed and Broward and Palm Beach counties are still finding and counting ballots," Scott told the gathered crowd at his Thursday night press conference. "The supervisors, Brenda Snipes and Susan Booker, cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist and where these ballots came from or where they have been."
He said the officials are not ensuring a fair and transparent election process.
"The people of Florida deserve fairness and transparency and the supervisors are failing to give it to us. Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward counties," Scott said.
"The Broward supervisor of elections Brenda Snipes has a history of acting in absolute bad faith. As you will recall, a judge ruled just this last year that the office violated both state and federal laws by illegally destroying ballots in 2016. That same year, her office was sued for leaving amendments off ballots. In 2014, Brenda Snipes' fellow Democrats accused her of individual and systemic breakdowns that made it difficult for voters to cast regular ballots. All Floridians should be concerned about this," he continued.
Scott said he will not accept the behavior of "unethical liberals."
"We've all seen the incompetence and irregularities in vote tabulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties for years, but here we go again. I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida. "
Scott pointed out that the lawyer hired by Nelson, Marc Elias, has said he expects the Democratic senator to be declared the winner.
"Senator Nelson hired one of Hillary Clinton's lawyers from D.C., and one of the first things he did was tell reporter's that he is here to win the election. He is not here for a full and fair election or even an accurate vote count," Scott said.
Elias has been, as Scott points out, involved in many recounts and scandal recovery efforts, including the 2014 senate election in Kansas. He has previously said recounts rarely change the results of the election. The Washington Free Beacon reported in 2014 on his campaign involvement.
On Thursday, Elias said, "We believe at the end of the day, Sen. Nelson is going to be declared the winner and return to the U.S. Senate. I think it's fair to say right now the results of the 2018 Senate election are unknown, and [media] and elections officials should treat it as such."
Scott suggested the activists in Florida's liberal counties aim for the election to "turn out the way they want," regardless of the actual votes or a fair process.
"Every day since the election the leftwing activists in Broward county have been coming up with more and more ballots out of nowhere," Scott said in his press conference. "We all know what is going on. Every person in Florida knows exactly what is happening. Their goal is to keep mysteriously finding more votes until the elections turn out the way they want."
"Tonight, I am asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate this immediately and I am considering every single legal option available," Scott concluded. "No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C. will be allowed to steal this election from the voters in the state of Florida. I am proud to be the next Senator from the State of Florida and look forward to going up there and making Washington work for all Americans."