According to Reuters, Florida election officials on Thursday were racing toward a deadline to finish a recount of ballots in close races for the U.S. Senate and governor’s seat. The US judge cleared the way to include ballots from as many as 5,000 people across the state who submitted ballots by mail that were rejected by election officials. In both races the margins of victory were below the 0.5 percentage point threshold at which state law requires a recount of ballots.