Allen West gets Florida County to do early recount, still losing

A very sore loser. Patrick Murphy has been unofficially declared the winner in his hotly contested race against Rep. Allen West. How hotly contested? Despite the fact that the win was outside the margin that triggers an automatic recount, West is still fighting. He got St. Lucie county to do a partial recount of early ballots, despite the fact that the hearing he demanded, attempting to impound voting machines and ballots in the county, won't be heard until tomorrow.

Election officials said they were taking the step "out of an abundance of caution."

The official notice of the recount stated all early votes would be included, but officials then decided to feed only three days of ballots into scanners.

West's campaign objected to the dates being recounted, the absence of a full recount of early votes and the county's refusal to turn over some other documentation requested. [...]

"What's going on today is a sham. It does nothing to address all the concerns we have," West campaign manager Tim Edson said. "We'll take every legal action necessary."

That partial recount still gives Murphy the win, still outside recount margins. But West's threat is clear: "We'll take every legal action necessary."

He's going to drag this out as long as the courts will allow.

Please chip in $3 to help Patrick Murphy fight this legal battle.