U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Florida election officials to abandon recount efforts, declare his fellow Republicans the winners and, without evidence, cast doubt on vote tallies as state officials scrambled to review more than 8 million ballots by a Thursday deadline.
Leads by the Republican candidates in two key contested races — one for a seat in the U.S. Senate and one for the governor's office — shrank as more ballots were tallied following last Tuesday's election.
Trump's call to end the recount, which is mandated by Florida law because of the closeness of the races, came even though state rules allow election officials to wait 10 days for absentee ballots submitted by registered voters living outside the United States, including active-duty military personnel.